VENDORS affiliated to the Zimbabwe Informal Sector’s Organisation (Ziso) are preparing to take the First Lady Grace Mugabe to court for taking their goods confiscated by authorities at border posts and from their trading places.
Phyllis Mbanje
Grace confessed that she had been given the various goods, mainly second-hand clothes. She dished out some of the clothes to her supporters during a Zanu PF Women’s League rally at her home area in Zvimba on Thursday.
In a statement issued on Friday, Ziso described the move as “illegal” and a violation of their rights.
The organisation said it would make an urgent application before the courts to challenge the decision to donate vendors’ confiscated goods to Zanu PF supporters, adding the First Lady had no right to do so.
“We are disturbed by the statements attributed to the First Lady [Grace Mugabe]. The First Lady announced that she intended to donate wares that were confiscated from the vendors by the municipal police. This is an illegal exercise,” reads the statement.
The First Lady said she had 150 bales of clothes that were confiscated at border posts and that she would donate them. She said she had been given authority by municipalities, state security agents and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to donate the bales.
The organisation questioned the laws applied by the municipal police in confiscating the goods and urged government to continue to uphold the rule of law, in particular the respect for property rights.
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“Ziso will make an urgent court application to stop the First Lady from donating wares which do not belong to her. The move by the First Lady has the potential of encouraging people to venture into corrupt practices within the informal sector using her name.”
Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (Viset) director, Samuel Wadzai said the statements by the First Lady were unfortunate.
He said they would back any legal challenge by Ziso.
“It is time that people realised that vendors need to be assisted so that they can look after their families.
The First Lady’s stance is very strange,” he said.
On Friday, National Vendors Union director Stanley Zvorwadza said the First Lady’s utterances were proof that politicians were not bothered by the welfare of informal traders.
He said the vendors were hardworking people who were struggling to fend for their families and that the First Lady had no “shame” taking wares from the poverty-stricken masses.
