ON March 12, 2025, the Zimbabwean government issued a 48-hour ultimatum to clear all-night informal traders, commonly known as vendors, from the streets as part of its nationwide crackdown on unregulated trading activities. Government cited security, health and economic threats as reasons for the blitz.
Zimbabwe is a State party to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), which she ratified on June 12, 1986. The ratification of the Charter by Zimbabwe means that the country must fulfil its objective by promoting and protecting fundamental rights and freedoms.
In October 2018, ACHPR adopted the historic Principles on the Decriminalisation of Petty Offences in Africa.
One of the major aims of this declaration was to urge all African Union member States, Zimbabwe included, not to restrict individuals from engaging in life-sustaining activities, particularly for those living in poverty.
The criminalisation of vending by the local authorities infringes on the autonomy of persons. It further degrades their right to human dignity, which is not congruent with the tenor, spirit and purport of the African Charter.
The enforcement of municipality laws which criminalise vending in Zimbabwe perpetuates the stigmatisation of poverty by assigning a criminal justice response to socio-economic challenges. It reinforces discriminatory attitudes against marginalised persons.
Section 56(3) of the Constitution provides that no one must be treated in an unfair and discriminatory manner due to his or her economic or social status. Whether one likes it or not, being an informal trader puts a person in economic and social statuses which are at the lower rung of the economy.
Therefore, arresting informal traders is an attack on their economic status. They are informal traders, not criminals. They also contribute to the economy. They are economic players. Arresting them is an act of criminalising poverty and vulnerability. It's against our people-driven Constitution.
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Article 5 of the African Charter guarantees the respect of the inherent right to dignity. The enforcement of vending bylaws by local authorities is always inconsistent with the right to dignity and freedom from ill-treatment. Vendors endure inhuman and degrading treatment through mass arrest operations. Sometimes, they are beaten and their wares are confiscated.
Article 6 of the African Charter guarantees the right to liberty and security of persons. It prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention. For a law to comply with Article 6 of the African Charter, it should define criminal conduct clearly and precisely, it should be accessible. The law should establish the elements of the offence, as well as the grounds upon which a person can be arrested and
detained.
However, our bylaws, which were mostly inherited from colonialism, are often vague and overly broad. They do not specify the conduct being criminalised and the requisite criminal intent. As a result, our law enforcement agents are given wide discretion to determine which activities constitute criminal behaviour which is prone to abuse and violation of rights for informal traders. In most cases, raids by law enforcement agents are being applied arbitrarily and/or in a discriminatory
manner.
Criminal laws must pursue a legitimate purpose. To achieve the legitimate objective the conduct of law enforcement agents should be done within the parameters of a democratic society, based on equality, human dignity and freedom.
The conduct of municipal police and other law enforcement agents should be exercised in a manner which does not impose excessive or arbitrary infringements upon individual rights and freedoms. The reality is that mass arrests of informal traders in towns and cities across the country are always conducted in a manner which further entrenches stigma and worsens poverty.
It is disheartening to note that our prisons and detention centres are congested with people prosecuted for petty offences, such as informal trading. The majority of these people who are being arrested for these economic offences can’t defend themselves in criminal proceedings.
The criminalisation of informal trading is against the sacrosanct notion of human dignity, equality and non-discrimination of persons as provided in the supreme law of the land — the Constitution.
Government, local authorities and all other organs of the State should understand that criminalisation of informal trading is not meant to achieve anything but to entrench structural poverty and social exclusion, which hinder the people of Zimbabwe from enjoying their rights and freedoms as citizens.
