Bulawayo’s renowned journalist, Vusumuzi Dube from the Chronicle newspaper recently won an Economic Justice Award for his sterling coverage of the plight of vendors and informal traders in the City.
The award, sponsored by Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA) and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), was meant to appreciate and motivate more journalists to expose the challenges and the opportunities that exists in the informal sector.
Speaking after the National Journalists and Media Awards (NJAMA) ceremony recently, Dube expressed gratitude to the organization for introducing another category in media awards.
“It was an honor being awarded the Bulawayo Economic Justice Reporter of the Year,” he said.
“I have been recognized for writing on a sector that is oftenly overlooked and labelled as illegal. I have been a Municipal reporter for over 6 years and exposing ills within our society is my passion, which I will continue doing without fear or favor.”
Vendors and informal traders are faced with a myriad of challenges ranging from police harassment, exorbitant licenses, inadequate vending bays and confiscation of their wares for selling at undesignated points. BVTA will continue standing up for the rights of vendors and informal traders whom majority are women.