GOVERNMENT and the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) have ordered vendors in Bulawayo to move to designated trading places before February 9 this year to avoid facing the wrath of the law.
In a notice issued by BCC on behalf of the office of the Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution minister, the government advised the traders to vacate illegal trading places as a matter of urgency.
“The office of the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution and the City of Bulawayo would like to advise members of the public, stakeholders and members of the informal sector of the deadline for the movement from undesignated trading sites.
“The City of Bulawayo has a mandate to restore order as guided by the Urban Councils (Model Hawkers and Street Vendors) by-laws.“All illegal informal traders are warned and advised to move to designated sites no later than Friday February 9. Registered informal traders who have abandoned their bays and or are not paying the required council fees are advised to return to their bays and regularise the operations.”
The council set application fees for central business district (CBD) licence at US$23 per year and monthly rentals at US$11,50 per month. The fees for trading places outside the CBD has been pegged at US$11,50 per year and monthly rentals are US$5,75 per month.
“All persons conducting unauthorised informal trading on undesignated sites in the City of Bulawayo (on pavements, on the streets, roadway) washing of cars, repairing of vehicles, illegal pick-up points by private vehicles, commuter omnibuses and buses, delivery of farm produce and other products on the streets, pushcarts, heavy commercial vehicles into the CBD, illegal throwing and dumping of garbage or litter are given up to February 9 to cease their illegal activities,” the notice said.
The Bulawayo CBD has been taken over by an influx of illegal vendors, most of them from Harare and Masvingo, who are accused of overcrowding the streets and in the process blocking traffic and becoming stumbling blocks to the visibility of the formal businesses.
This has resulted in many businesses shutting down their shops after they allegedly lost their clients to the illegal traders leading to loss of formal employment and business in the city.
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