Bulawayo in a mess

Jane Nkiwane

Rampant illegal street vending activities in Bulawayo are increasingly becoming a menace. This came up during a City of Bulawayo engagement meeting on cleaning up the city.

Blockage of pavements, waste pollution and disruption of the smooth running of local businesses have become the order of the day in the city that is fast losing its status as the cleanest city in Zimbabwe.

“Space barons have taken over and the daring vendors occupy pavements of established businesses and sell the same wares as those found in the established retail shops that pay rentals, rates to the city council and taxes to the government,”  said the Mayor of Bulawayo, Councillor Solomon Mguni.

The Mayor highlighted that these illegal activities pose a health threat to residents while benefitting only a few individuals. He called on law enforcement agents to come to the aid of helpless council police.

 “The level of garbage that they generate and dump on the sanitary lanes has Bulawayo  sitting on a health time bomb. This situation is not benefiting the city as a whole but only a few individual space barons who have declared a stalemate with the municipal police and this stalemate can only be unlocked by state security agents and law enforcement agents,” said the mayor.

Health Services Director of the city, Dr Edwin Sibanda condemned littering and emphasised that disease outbreaks are inevitable if the littering continues unabated. He urged residents to correctly dispose their waste at designated points.

“We have more than ten diseases that are lurking in the city. The moment you decide to dispose your litter, please place it in the correct container for collection at the appropriate time. Illegal dumping of waste in open spaces especially near residential places does not solve your problem because you have just moved the waste a few meters from your house and this endangers the public,” he said.

Town Planning Director, Wisdom Siziba said illegal vendors have became so brazen in their disregard of the law in the Central Business District.

“In every part of the city there is an illegal vendor. Some light up fires to roast maize in the CBD. What kind of a city is this? …Is that the city that you want to create for future generations? There are also illegal pickup points despite the fact that we have designated terminuses and have implemented a decentralisation strategy as council. We have country bus terminuses in all district centres  like Nkulumane, Entumbane, Renkini  but for sone reason the bus operators avoid them and come to the city centre. We  find buses at the Centenary Park which was meant to give Bulawayo residents a space to relax,” he said.

Provincial Director for Economic Development Simon Saunyama suggested measures that could be taken to restore sanity in the city. 

“We have to ensure that we implement the laws and bylaws and every other supporting initiative that can make our city clean by implementing the clean-up campaigns as well as involving vendors in the clean-up campaign initiatives and have the correct information disseminated,”  he said.