The chal­lenge of vend­ing in Byo: Bal­an­cing reg­u­la­tion and eco­nomic vital­ity

THE recent decision by the Bulawayo City Coun­cil (BCC) to relo­cate vendors from 5th Avenue, in response to a Gov­ern­ment ulti­matum, high­lights the com­plex dynam­ics of urban vend­ing in Zim­b­abwe.

As the local author­ity pre­pares to enforce meas­ures against night vend­ing and man­age the exist­ing chal­lenges faced by vendors, it is cru­cial to con­sider both the eco­nomic vital­ity these vendors bring to the city and the need for order and reg­u­la­tion within the bust­ling urban land­scape.

The Gov­ern­ment’s dir­ect­ive, issued by Local Gov­ern­ment and Pub­lic Works Min­is­ter Daniel Garwe, stems from increas­ing con­cerns over the chaos asso­ci­ated with night vend­ing. The surge in informal vend­ing activ­it­ies has not only led to increased ped­es­trian traffic and lit­ter­ing but has also dis­rup­ted estab­lished busi­nesses in the Cent­ral Busi­ness Dis­trict (CBD).

The BCC’s efforts to coordin­ate with the Zim­b­abwe Repub­lic Police for enforce­ment reflect a neces­sary step towards restor­ing order, yet the exe­cu­tion of these meas­ures must be approached with sens­it­iv­ity and foresight.

The stat­ist­ics presen­ted by the BCC reveal a con­cern­ing real­ity: out of the 3 416 vend­ing bays avail­able in the CBD, only a small frac­tion are licensed for oper­a­tion. This raises import­ant ques­tions about the reg­u­lat­ory frame­work gov­ern­ing informal trad­ing. The fact that many vendors are oper­at­ing without licenses indic­ates a sig­ni­fic­ant gap between the city’s reg­u­la­tions and the real­it­ies of informal eco­nom­ies.

While the enforce­ment of these reg­u­la­tions is essen­tial for main­tain­ing order, it is equally import­ant to recog­nise the eco­nomic con­tri­bu­tions that these vendors make to the local eco­nomy.

In an inter­view, Bulawayo Deputy Mayor Coun­cil­lor Edwin Ndlovu emphas­ised the coun­cil’s com­mit­ment to relo­cat­ing vendors to des­ig­nated bays. This pro­act­ive approach aims to cre­ate a more organ­ised vend­ing envir­on­ment, but it also neces­sit­ates robust com­mu­nic­a­tion with the vendors them­selves.

The BCC’s decision to move vendors to altern­at­ive loc­a­tions like Bakta’s and Egodini must be accom­pan­ied by a dia­logue that con­siders the vendors’ per­spect­ives and needs. Fail­ure to engage with the vendors could lead to fur­ther ten­sions and an increase in unreg­u­lated activ­it­ies.

The Bulawayo Traders and Vendors Asso­ci­ation (BVTA) has rightly called for increased dia­logue between the Gov­ern­ment and vendors. This engage­ment is cru­cial for pro­mot­ing a more organ­ised informal sec­tor that bene­fits both the vendors and the city. BVTA exec­ut­ive dir­ector Mr Michael Ndi­weni’s asser­tion that a col­lab­or­at­ive approach can lead to bet­ter out­comes is par­tic­u­larly sali­ent. Instead of blanket pro­hib­i­tions, the focus should be on edu­ca­tion and empower­ment of vendors to ensure com­pli­ance with city by-laws while allow­ing them to thrive eco­nom­ic­ally.

The notion of zero night vend­ing, while aimed at address­ing spe­cific con­cerns, needs to be recon­sidered. As Mr Ndi­weni poin­ted out, night vend­ing is a real­ity in many urban set­tings world­wide, and it can be man­aged effect­ively within reg­u­lat­ory frame­works.

The poten­tial for gen­er­at­ing income for com­munit­ies dur­ing night time hours is sig­ni­fic­ant, and rather than view­ing night vend­ing as a nuis­ance, the author­it­ies should explore ways to integ­rate it into the broader urban eco­nomy.

Moreover, the voices of res­id­ents, like Bulawayo United Res­id­ents Asso­ci­ation (Bura) chair­per­son Mr Winos Dube, reflect a com­mon sen­ti­ment among cit­izens who are frus­trated with the deteri­or­a­tion of urban clean­li­ness and order. While res­id­ents com­mend the Gov­ern­ment’s move to enforce reg­u­la­tions, it is cru­cial to recog­nise that enforce­ment alone is not a sus­tain­able solu­tion. The emphasis should also be on com­munity involve­ment and aware­ness – build­ing ini­ti­at­ives that encour­age respons­ible vend­ing prac­tices and envir­on­mental stew­ard­ship among vendors.

As the BCC moves for­ward with the relo­ca­tion and enforce­ment pro­cesses, it must strike a bal­ance between reg­u­la­tion and sup­port. This includes not only ensur­ing that vendors oper­ate within the law but also provid­ing them with the tools and resources neces­sary to suc­ceed.

An effect­ive vend­ing strategy could include licens­ing pro­grammes, train­ing ses­sions on busi­ness prac­tices, and sup­port for waste man­age­ment ini­ti­at­ives.

In con­clu­sion, the situ­ation sur­round­ing vend­ing in Bulawayo encap­su­lates the broader chal­lenges faced by urban centres nav­ig­at­ing the com­plex inter­play of reg­u­la­tion, eco­nomic activ­ity, and com­munity well-being.

The BCC’s actions, while neces­sary, should pave the way for a more col­lab­or­at­ive and inclus­ive approach to urban vend­ing. By enga­ging with vendors and the com­munity, the city can foster a vibrant informal eco­nomy that con­trib­utes to its over­all vital­ity while ensur­ing that pub­lic spaces remain clean and orderly.

The path for­ward lies not just in enforce­ment but in part­ner­ships that recog­nise the valu­able role vendors play in the fab­ric of urban life.

https://www.pressreader.com/zimbabwe/sunday-news-zimbabwe/20250316/281590951343005