Bulawayo pushes to relocate vendors

Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is intensifying efforts to relocate thousands of informal traders operating in the central business district, with Town Clerk Christopher Dube warning that worsening congestion, poor sanitation and disorder are threatening the city's functionality.

Speaking during a joint tour to assess the city's vending situation, Dube referred to recent remarks by the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Dr Daniel Garwe, who described Bulawayo, Harare and Chitungwiza as being in the "Intensive Care Unit" due to mounting urban management challenges.

The latest push comes despite previous attempts by the council to relocate vendors, which have been met with resistance from traders who fear losing customers if moved to designated sites on the outskirts of the central business district.

"The Minister of Local Government announced that Bulawayo and other cities are in the ICU. As leaders, we need to look into that together and try to correct some of these issues," Dube said.

He identified uncontrolled street vending as one of the city's biggest challenges and urged authorities to act swiftly.

"We are in a very sensitive moment now. Let's take a decision now and push it to move almost immediately. We need to clean the city," he said.

According to Dube, council surveys indicate that approximately 4,100 vendors are operating in the affected areas.

He said many of them could be accommodated at alternative trading sites already identified by the local authority, including the Bhaktas vending site.

"The site has the capacity to accommodate about 2,000 vendors, while other locations are also being prepared. If they go there, people will know where to find them when they need to buy their commodities," he said.

Minister of State for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province Judith Ncube supported the proposed relocation, saying the matter required urgent intervention.

She argued that vending in undesignated areas posed public health risks to both traders and consumers.

"Council must move with speed to restore sanity and ensure that streets, pavements and public spaces serve their intended purpose. We need to have a joint emergency meeting with the relevant ministry, Joint Operations Command, together with the representatives of vendors," she said.

Ncube recounted witnessing poor hygiene practices during the tour, saying they illustrated the need for improved trading facilities.

"While coming here, we saw a woman with an infant. She was changing the baby's diaper. Immediately after so doing she continued to wipe her cucumbers. This is not the way that people should conduct their business. We need to have better facilities with more humane services," she said.

The minister also expressed concern over the growing number of trucks and delivery vehicles that have effectively become mobile retail outlets in the city centre.

"If you look at the trucks that are always at the marketplace, we should find out why they are parked there. Why can't they deliver and go? But they do their sales; they have automatically become retail shops," she said.

While calling for stricter regulation of informal trading, Ncube stressed the importance of engaging vendors to find practical and mutually acceptable solutions.

"There is no harm in us putting our heads together as people of Bulawayo so that we can both come up with a possible solution that will make us happy as leaders and make those who are doing vending happy as well," she said.

The proposed relocation forms part of broader efforts by the city to restore order in the central business district, improve public health standards and ensure that roads, pavements and other public spaces are used for their intended purposes while providing traders with properly designated operating areas.