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Brighton Gumbo Chronicle Reporter
Some Harare vendors have relocated to Bulawayo as the Harare municipality intensifies its exercise to remove vendors from undesignated sites, Bulawayo Upcoming Traders Association (BUTA) secretary-general, Dumisani Ncube has said.

Ncube said the organisation has observed a growing number of illegal vendors on Bulawayo’s streets in the past two weeks and most of them were from Harare.

He said: “For the past two weeks we’ve observed a growth in the number of informal traders around the Central Business District (CBD) and we’ve raised concern with the Bulawayo City Council (BCC). Most of these new vendors are said to be from Harare.”

Ncube said BUTA has since engaged the BCC to establish more sites to try and accommodate the increasing number of vendors.

“We’re waiting for council to establish new vendor marts to accommodate the growing number of vendors operating at illegal sites,” said Ncube.

He said some of the proposed sites that came up when they engaged the city council include a place along 15th Avenue that has been earmarked for a flea market and another near Pick and Pay which should be for vegetables and fruits vendors.

Ncube said his association was appealing to council to use its waiting list to allocate bays to new vendors.

“We aren’t discriminating against anyone but want council to use the waiting list so that the allocations are fair,” he said.

Harare vendors are resisting to move to designated sites.