News / National
Normalcy returns to Harare CBD
04 Aug 2018 at 09:17hrs | Views
NORMALCY returned to Harare central business district (CBD) yesterday, with people from all walks of life resuming their daily routines, a day after the announcement of zanu-pf's victory in the presidential race.
A snap survey around the city centre showed that shops that closed on Wednesday and Thursday following MDC-Alliance-sponsored violent protests opened their doors to the public as early as 9am. Businesspeople could be seen replacing broken windowpanes. Commuter omnibuses and pirate taxis were also picking and dropping off passengers as usual.
Vendors had also spread their wares along the streets as usual and other citizens were seen trickling into the city centre to their different workplaces. "Everything has returned to normal. As you can see I have already sold $15 worth of flowers this morning. The day looks promising as usual," said Mr Tarisai Madondo, a florist at the Meikles market.
A vegetable vendor, Ms Lucas Mhombera, who operates along Robert Mugabe Road, said they hoped business would improve. "Business is still slow, maybe it will peak during the course of the day," she said. "From the look of things, our customers are still uncertain on the situation in the city centre."
Ms Mhombera said on a normal working day, they start making sales as early as 7am, but as of 9am yesterday, no significant sales had been made. It was however, a different story for those who sell second-hand clothes.
"I have lost two bales that were looted on Tuesday during the disturbances and I had invested all my money into it," said Ms Mwaipei Muchineripi from Copacabana flea market.
"Right now, I don't even know where to start from to at least recover my money."
An official at Pick n Pay supermarket along Jason Moyo Avenue, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing protocol, said they were forced to close shop as early as 10am on Thursday due to the tense environment that was obtaining then. "Yesterday (Thursday), it was a calm morning, but we had to close shop because the environment seemed tense for business as the day progressed," said the official.
"However, today, it is a completely different mood. People seem to be going about their everyday lives, which is why we are also still open." The official said as a business they were looking forward to a calm environment for the rest of the day and going forward.
The situation was also calm in most high-density suburbs. Although the pre-election period and polling day were peaceful, violent protests by members of the MDC- Alliance erupted in Harare city centre, claiming six lives and leaving scores of others injured.
A snap survey around the city centre showed that shops that closed on Wednesday and Thursday following MDC-Alliance-sponsored violent protests opened their doors to the public as early as 9am. Businesspeople could be seen replacing broken windowpanes. Commuter omnibuses and pirate taxis were also picking and dropping off passengers as usual.
Vendors had also spread their wares along the streets as usual and other citizens were seen trickling into the city centre to their different workplaces. "Everything has returned to normal. As you can see I have already sold $15 worth of flowers this morning. The day looks promising as usual," said Mr Tarisai Madondo, a florist at the Meikles market.
A vegetable vendor, Ms Lucas Mhombera, who operates along Robert Mugabe Road, said they hoped business would improve. "Business is still slow, maybe it will peak during the course of the day," she said. "From the look of things, our customers are still uncertain on the situation in the city centre."
Ms Mhombera said on a normal working day, they start making sales as early as 7am, but as of 9am yesterday, no significant sales had been made. It was however, a different story for those who sell second-hand clothes.
"I have lost two bales that were looted on Tuesday during the disturbances and I had invested all my money into it," said Ms Mwaipei Muchineripi from Copacabana flea market.
"Right now, I don't even know where to start from to at least recover my money."
An official at Pick n Pay supermarket along Jason Moyo Avenue, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing protocol, said they were forced to close shop as early as 10am on Thursday due to the tense environment that was obtaining then. "Yesterday (Thursday), it was a calm morning, but we had to close shop because the environment seemed tense for business as the day progressed," said the official.
"However, today, it is a completely different mood. People seem to be going about their everyday lives, which is why we are also still open." The official said as a business they were looking forward to a calm environment for the rest of the day and going forward.
The situation was also calm in most high-density suburbs. Although the pre-election period and polling day were peaceful, violent protests by members of the MDC- Alliance erupted in Harare city centre, claiming six lives and leaving scores of others injured.
Source - the herald
