Informal traders in Bulawayo are defying the health workers and government advice for citizens to maintain social distancing and stay at home to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID-19 disease, which has claimed thousands of lives across the world.
The government and the health sector have been out in full
force advising citizens to maintain social distance everywhere and even to stay
at home if they have no important business to do in public places as a way of
scaling down and reducing the chances of the spread of COVID-19.
Zimbabwe so far has recorded three official cases with one
of the victims, broadcaster Zororo Makamba, succumbing to the disease on
Monday.
A survey done by Southern Eye around Bulawayo’s vending
sites, vegetables and flea markets established that it was business as usual,
with traders and their customers mixing and mingling oblivious of the dangers
associated with the virus.
Interviews conducted with some of the vendors showed that
most of the traders were still not taking the scourge seriously.
Close-range greetings and shaking of hands were still the
culture among the traders and general citizens despite advice by health
personnel to shun the practice.
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“I have heard and still hear about coronavirus, but since
vending is the only means for me to sustain my family, if I stay at home, I and
my family will die of hunger,” a fruit vendor who preferred to remain anonymous
said.
“The problem is that since I want customers, it is not easy
for me to say I can maintain the social distance you are talking about. If I do
that, how then will I attend to my customers? It’s not possible.”
Another vendor, Sibongile Ndlovu, said she was not
well-informed on the preventive measures considering the time she spends in
trading, where she has no access to either radio or television services as she
will be busy selling her wares.
Several other vendors just had a casual talk and approach
to the coronavirus, a sign that they still do not take it as serious as it
should.
However, Streetwise Informal Traders Association director
Percy Mcijo said it was unfortunate that as a country, little had been done in
an effort to curb the spread of the highly infectious virus.
“A human being is a social being and cannot be easily
separated from other humans, but since the pandemic knows no race, no tribe, no
ethnicity, no status, it’s a must that people should comply with universal
measures in order to stay safe,” he warned.
“My opinion is that vendors and the society in general have
a responsibility to stop the spread through adherence, which can only be
possible if there could be vigorous campaigns through distribution of pamphlets
as well as putting up of posters and billboards at places where many people can
be found.”
He said without such awareness information being given,
people easily forget to take precautions to stop the spread.
Mcijo said this was the time to use hailers and roadshows
to disseminate important information to save lives. He also appealed to the
city councils across the country to decongest the areas in their jurisdictions.
“The city council must decongest the city streets by
removing buses and kombis from undesignated areas and that would open up space
for vendors to be able to comply with social distancing,” he said.
“Egodini project (Bulawayo) seems to be on hold, and if
possible for the time being, it can be used as a temporary terminus. Everyone
must be serious, Zimbabwe is not a neutral zone as far as the spread of the
deadly virus is concerned, let’s work together as a nation so that we can
prevail.”
Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association director Micheal Ndiweni
said it was true that people were still going to the markets, the simple reason
being that most of them rely on informal trading.
“In our economy, about 70% is informal, so as a result, you
see a lot of people going to the markets even if there is an outbreak of
COVID-19. The problem is that people have no other source of livelihood. It is
not that they are not afraid of the virus, but it’s because there is no other
choices for them to survive,” he said.
“But as associations, we have communicated to them to try
and avoid crowded places and to observe the World Health Organisation
recommended precautionary measures like sitting one metre apart, washing hands
regularly, avoiding touching their faces and to cover their nose, among
others.”
Ndiweni said the unfortunate thing was that most of people
relied on trade to put food on the table, adding it would be difficult for them
to stay at home.
“Our prayer is that if the government was serious about
this, they could have made provision of kind of grants or stipends for families
to be able to stay at home and survive in the short term. But apparently, the
government has done nothing meaningful. As a result, you then see people having
to find means to survive,” he said.
Ndiweni said his association had since advised the traders
to stop going outside the country to buy their wares after the outbreak.
Newsday
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