Scores of informal traders who have been operating from the streets in Harare will now be housed in the newly constructed Empowerment Traders’ Mall at the corner of Chinhoyi Street and Kwame Nkrumah Avenue beginning next month.
This is expected to restore sanity on pavements around the area which have been infested with vendors plying their trade illegally.
The mall was constructed by Intrust Investments, which also runs the Copacabana Traders Mall and will provide trading spaces for informal traders in Harare’s CBD who have over the years been operating illegally on street pavements.
Intrust Investments director, Mr Tendai Mazanhi, said the development was in line with the Government’s empowerment initiatives and aimed at ensuring that traders were organised and paid some taxes.
“The purpose of this mall is for empowerment in line with the President’s Vision 2030,” he said. “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo (a country is developed by its citizens) and that is why we have established this mall to accommodate vendors so that they can work without being chased away by the authorities.
“This mall has all the necessary amenities including ablution facilities and as part of our corporate social responsibility, we have applied to the City of Harare so that we renovate the public toilet which is adjacent the Empowerment Mall so that we reduce pressure on the ablution facilities within our premises.”
Co-director Mr Gladman Dhliwayo explained that the establishment of traders’ malls would help in formalising small-scale businesses.
“Vendors need to operate in a systematic way whereby their operations can contribute to the fiscus and GDP,” he said. “This mall will ensure that traders operate legally, paying their council licences and ZIMRA taxes, thereby contributing to the fiscus.
“Gone are the days when vendors used to operate illegally on the streets. This is modern day vending which empowers our people.”
The Empowerment Mall would give priority mostly to women as well as other vulnerable groups such as people living with disabilities.
“This premise will have 90 percent women so that they are empowered and we believe that this will also reduce the incidences of gender-based violence,” said Mr Dhliwayo.
“Priority will also be given to people living with disabilities and we are proud to say this premise is actually an improvement from the Copacabana Mall as we have provided services to cater for traders that are living with disabilities such as the visually impaired and those that use wheelchairs.”
Mr Patrick Sengu, a vendor operating near the Empowerment Mall along Chinhoyi Street, said he was hoping to be accommodated in the new mall when it opened its doors.
“I hope to get a table in the new mall because operating from the streets is not ideal,” he said. “We are incurring a lot of losses when we are raided by the authorities so I hope it opens soon.”
Another vendor who sells baby products along Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, Mrs Sheila Gondo said the city council should provide more space for the establishment of traders’ malls. “Most vendors are operating from the streets due to lack of formal trading spaces and as vendors, we really appreciate initiatives such as the Copacabana Mall and the new Empowerment Mall which are aimed at providing decent trading spaces for illegal traders,” she said. – The Herald
