Vendors4ED mobilises support for Zanu PF ahead of Mangwe by-election

Patriotic Vendors4ED has intensified its campaign activities in Mangwe Ward 15 ahead of the November 28 by-election, mobilising informal traders to rally behind Zanu PF candidate Crispen Mkandla.


The organisation’s Matabeleland South provincial chairperson, Thobekile Mafu, said vendors played a significant role in electoral campaigns and were already conducting door-to-door mobilisation in the Mpoengs area.

Mafu said provincial and national leaders of the organisation would soon join local members in campaigning for Mkandla, who is contesting the vacant council seat against independent candidate Motsamayi Nkalu Moyo.

“Vendors constitute a huge number of registered voters everywhere in the nation. If you fail to involve vendors in your election campaign, you have failed the game,” she said.

“Our Mangwe vendors, led by our Provincial Secretary for Indigenisation, Cde Chedza Ncube, who is also a resident there, are already on the ground doing door-to-door campaigns.”

She added: “Very soon, as the Provincial Team and National members, we will join them to campaign for our ZANU PF candidate, Cde Crispen Mkandla.”

Mafu expressed confidence that Zanu PF’s development agenda, which she linked to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030 programme, would appeal to Ward 15 voters.

“As Patriotic Vendors4ED, we are a very strong and united movement standing for our President, Dr ED Mnangagwa, who has brought great developmental projects,” she said.

“I promise you, Ward 15, as long as you vote for ZANU PF candidate Crispen Mkandla, you will see great development in your ward.”

However, local vendors have also raised concerns about the need for financial assistance to expand their informal trading businesses.

Patriotic Vendors4ED provincial member for Mangwe and Bulilima, Chedza Ncube, said many residents depended on informal trading for their livelihoods but lacked adequate capital to grow their businesses.

“Most of our people here are informal traders. Our vendors need to be empowered with boost capital for their vending stalls, for them to grow in their businesses and to fend for their families,” she said.

Ncube said the organisation’s mobilisation efforts were aimed at strengthening support for Mkandla ahead of the poll.

Meanwhile, Patriotic Vendors4ED national chairman Sawu Jere said members had been directed to participate in campaigns in both Mangwe Ward 15 and Chiredzi Ward 19, where by-elections are scheduled for November 28.

“I have commanded our Patriotic Vendors4ED teams to go and support the by-election campaign. I kindly urge residents of those two wards to focus on a party with tangible development and vision,” Jere said.

The Mangwe Ward 15 by-election follows the conviction of former Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) councillor Sydney Ngwenya, 55, in a case involving the withdrawal of US$700 from a Campfire Committee bank account belonging to Mangwe Rural District Council.

Ngwenya and his co-accused, Benjamin Ncube, 71, were convicted after withdrawing the money from a ZB Bank account when only US$84 had reportedly been authorised for travel expenses.

Plumtree magistrate Joshua Nembarwe sentenced each of the accused to two months in prison, wholly suspended on condition that they paid a US$350 fine.

A further four-month prison term was suspended on condition of good behaviour.

The by-election will pit Zanu PF’s Mkandla against independent candidate Moyo for the vacant councillorship.

Mangwe District, situated in Matabeleland South province along Zimbabwe’s border with Botswana, includes communities such as Mpoengs, where informal trading and agriculture are important sources of livelihood.

The November 28 poll will determine who represents Ward 15 in Mangwe Rural District Council.