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THEY are small-scale vendors whose sole source of income is the buying and selling of eggs, vegetables, fruits, sweets and biscuits among other small items.
But their overheads are “heavier” than those of many in their line of business.
Vendors in Mbare say their overheads are unique and saddening.
Among others, they pay rent, rates, buy wares and bribe their way around the business almost every now and then.
“We are suffering”, says 46-year- old Nomuhle Mpehla. “Life is so difficult in this country.
“The police are giving us a hard time; we do not know why the government cannot pay them enough so they can leave us alone and reduce our burdens.”
Mpehla, who sells boiled eggs and salted nuts at Mbare long-distance bus terminus said her typical day was mostly characterised by playing hide-and-seek with law enforcement agents.
“Neighbourhood watch committee members, municipal and Zimbabwe Republic Police officers are always prowling around here so one has to do all they can to minimise contact with them or unotonyoreswa (you will be made to pay a bribe) every second,” she said.
An average “vending fee”, which always goes into the officers’ pockets, is pegged at $5 though it can be negotiated downwards depending of the level of the officer’s greed.
The vendors wish they were “as lucky” as motorists who, after bribing traffic police, get receipts which they then use as passports at other roadblocks.
“They do not give us any receipts,” Mpehla said. “On a single day one can meet up to six groups of officers each asking for a bribe.
“You either pay or they take away your wares and you never recover them or the money you used to buy them.”
Some of the officers even follow the vendors to their places of residence and without warrants, search these and confiscate whatever they suspect is for sale.
Charity Sengwe (38) stopped selling sadza last week after municipal police pounced on her friend’s house where she was preparing meals for sale and confiscated all cooking utensils and ingredients including pots, plates, mealie-meal and relish.
Sengwe is one of those people who have been found guilty of misusing council property by cooking large quantities of food for sale in their houses instead of doing that from a canteen or getting a licence for it.
“I tried to get a place at a canteen towards last Christmas but I could not afford the $200 rent,” she said.
“I also do not have money to buy a fridge, a warmer and all those other things required in a canteen.
“I then went to council offices where I was advised to look for a place where I could sell my wares from.
“I identified a place here in Mbare but when I went back to council, I was told that all vending places were fully occupied and that the place I had identified was not for vending activities.”
Zodwa Gwanzura who sells soft drinks from her house is among other vendors terrorised by neighbourhood watch committee members in Mbare National.
“What we know is that neighbourhood watch committee members must be from the surrounding community but we do not know where these ones are from. We don’t recognise them at all.
“They break into various groups such that you can meet one on your way home, another waiting for you by the gate and still have another coming to search your house and all the time you will be paying a bribe of between $5 and $10.”
Gwanzura said at one time, men in plain clothes claiming to belong to the neighbourhood watch committee searched her house and on finding soft drinks, sat down and began drinking to their fill.
Another group is alleged to have recently confiscated beer from a shebeen in the area so it could throw a party at a nearby house.
A similar group reportedly “arrests” people found walking on the streets after dusk and charges them $10 spot fines for “loitering”.
Finess Aaron (68) who used to sell tomatoes, vegetables, sweets and biscuits by her house’s gate was recently forced to close shop following the harassment.
Mary Jelemu’s (35) two children dropped out of secondary school as the police forced her out of business.
The same applies to Constance Malaya’s (59) five orphaned grandchildren.
Both Jelemu and Malaya are unmarried, unemployed and have no other source of income.
Their families are now living in abject poverty since last December following the departure of a donor organisation which used to give them food aid.
Vendors from Majubeki’s Tsiga Grounds, a squatter camp which is home to mostly Murambatsvina victims, said apart from the police, a brutal political movement, Chipangano, adds to their worries.
They said the movement, which consists of youths and women with Zanu PF links, also demands money from them and threatens all those who do not want to pay with death and torching down of their plastic shacks.
The police, they said, visit them at the shacks at night and demand $2-rentals per household shack.
In all this, the vendors are worried that various officers involved are not doing anything to curb theft, regular murders and other crimes happening in the suburb.
Vendors from Tsiga Grounds have since formed Harare Homeless Movement where they contribute money with the hope of one day buying stands where they can build decent homes for themselves.
“All we need is a little help,” Mpehla said. “We have been living in the open for too long and we ask the government to provide us with decent shelter.
“We sell wares to eke out a living like everyone else but we have other people depriving us of our livelihoods.”
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said vendors should report to the police if anyone fails to give them a receipt after demanding a vending fee as that was illegal.
He said he was not aware of Chipangano’s activities in Mbare, adding that all he knew was that most vendors voluntarily join some associations that represent their cause.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
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