Jane Mlambo| Controversial Leader of the National Vendors Union (NAVUZ), Sten Zvorwadza has appealed to government to allow vendors to be part of solutions that helps in returning order into the central business district of Harare as the local authority battles to contain the deadly cholera outbreak.
Addressing Vendors yesterday, Zvorwadza said any solutions to the vending problem that does not involve them will not be successful calling on government to also consider them for tender
“However, the lasting solution is only that which is developed by the informal traders for themselves. Anything that is developed for them without their involvement will not be successful,” he said.
“Previous attempts to solve the issue of vending on the streets without involving the informal traders have always turned violent and not yielded the desired results and trading has increased drastically. This is fact and on record. It does not pay to keep repeating the same methodology and hope to get a different result.”
Mr Zvorwadza said Navuz proposes a grassroots-based strategy to deal with urban vending in a non-confrontational approach.
He said the strategy is rooted in persuasion and participatory methodology in solving the vending crisis, which is prevalent in most urban areas.
“The informal traders must participate in the mainstream economy through participation in business contracts in all sectors. They must be accorded a fraction of all mainstream contracts in order to support their initiatives,” he said.
“Navuz has partnered with a number of institutions to see this through to reality. We call for more support from central Government, local authorities and private players if Zimbabwean urban landscape is to be clean and healthy enough to attract business and investment.”
He said Navuz strategy proposes a 100-day period to start recording results from its initiative.
Mr Zvorwadza said if a portion of tenders were given to informal traders that will go a long way in addressing the congested urban areas since the majority of the informal traders have better economic engagement alternatives than vending.