It’s a struggle for survival, Harare vendors say as they vow to stay put despite blitz

Vendors say they will die in the streets as they find themselves in a desperate struggle for survival. Despite a joint government and council operation to clean the city and wipe out vendors, the informal traders who spoke to ZiFM Stereo News insist theirs is a struggle to feed their families and send their children to school. They say that, in the absence of an alternative, they have no option but to continue their vending business. “It’s a struggle. We won’t go anywhere if they don’t provide jobs for us. We will keep coming back into the streets because it’s a desperate fight for survival. I take care of my grandchildren. Their parents died, and my life is in the streets,” one of the vendors said. A snap survey in the city center shows vendors are back and spoiling for a fight as they argue that, without jobs, they have no other option to survive. Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe led the beginning of a joint operation yesterday to clean the city of illegal vendors, saying the move has the support of thousands of people who feel the informal traders have become a menace in the city. Updated with visuals by Sifiso Mapuranga