Statement on the ban of the importation of basic commodities

This statement is for the record for Africa and the world to find clarity on recent events and incidents at the Beit-Bridge Border Post. The statement is also in awareness of the vow by Minister Mike Bimha that the ban on the importation of basic commodities will not be lifted. The statement and our own resolve seek to shed light on what might be future events and incidents in reaction to the status quo. The Africa Cross Border Traders Union is a collective of hard working men and women who trade in basic commodities on a daily basis as a means of survival. We are law abiding citizens who have nothing but utmost respect and honour for Africa and its leadership. We write this statement to clarify and state our position on the recent ban of the importation of basic commodities in Zimbabwe that has grievously impacted on the business and livelihoods of our members.

To start with, most of our members in Zimbabwe are able bodied men and women who could not find gainful employment in the country because of the dire economic condition. Others had gainful employment but lost their jobs as the economic meltdown took its bite. Others still were profit making business people whose businesses collapsed because of the shrinking economy. Further still, a multiplicity of our members are educated and skilled young men and young women who could not find opportunity to ply their trade and contribute to economic growth and development of their country. Courageously, all these men and women did not abandon the country and immigrate to other countries but remained put in Zimbabwe as patriotic, loyal and brave citizens and children of Africa. We state this to demonstrate that cross border trading and specifically the importation and sale of some basic commodities has come to our members not as a luxury or a choice but as a necessity. Not only a necessity; we emphasise, but a necessity of the very last resort.

As the Africa Cross Border Traders Union in Zimbabwe we hail from families and communities whose livelihoods and survival; from Mutare to Plumtree and from Beit-Bridge to Binga; from Harare to Beit-bridge  depends on our trade and activities.  We have millions of customers who buy groceries, goods and other commodities from our members. From the trade, our members feed families, pay school fees, settle medical bills and keep the bodies and souls of multitudes together in a country whose economy has for years been under severe stress. In a country where some civil servants have gone without pay, the majority is unemployed, many vulnerable people, the elderly and the young are deprived, our business has come in handy literally to save souls and secure livelihoods.

In Africa and throughout the Globe, friends and enemies of Zimbabwe have always wondered how Zimbabweans survive under so much political and economic strain. It is a miracle to many how Zimbabweans are able to keep going under so much economic meltdown and political downturn of the country. It is not a guess but a truism that the cross border trader has played a role in bringing scarce commodities from other countries and generating some income that has kept families and communities with body and soul together where total starvation and demise would have taken place.

Again it is no exaggeration that many supermarkets and shops buy their stock from us cross border traders in a country where basic manufacturing is under strain or has totally collapsed. Some employed Zimbabweans, whose income does not suffice also part-time as cross border traders.  Civil servants who have not been paid and whose pay has always been insufficient participate in cross border trading or have one or two family members who ply the trade. Medical doctors who keep Zimbabweans alive, teachers who educate the nation, the police and the army who keep security and the peace of the country, all who struggle for survival, depend in a big way on our trade. We are not making a claim but stating a poignant fact that we have kept Zimbabweans alive and that we have bolstered the trouble economy.

In our protest against the ban of the importation of basic commodities we are not being aggressive but defensive. The ban does nothing but takes everything that we have built for ourselves; our source of survival of the very last resort is being taken away by a government that we have supported with our trade. We would rather be plying our trade than blocking roads and protesting, but our very last supply of oxygen is being squeezed out. We are not rebels, we are not militants, we fear and distaste violence and disturbance, we are brave cross border traders. We have no artillery or armaments. We ask and expect to be treated as such, not to be met with soldiers, armed police, weapons and violence. We are God fearing men and women of Zimbabwe who do not even wish to appear in newspapers and on television, but want to work silently every day to keep out families, our country and the continent of Africa alive under very difficult circumstances. We wish to be mistaken for nothing, but to be known and understood as those brave Zimbabweans who will rather do cross border trade and survive that complain and protest. This source of survival of the last resort, we state, we will protect, if it needs be, with our lives. The ban of the importation of basic commodities in Zimbabwe is a ban on our livelihoods. The last line of our lives is under threat and we hereby stand up to die on our feet than to die lying down.
Africa Cross Border Traders Union
(ACBTU)