By a Correspondent
Harare Mayor Councillor Jacob Mafume is facing mounting criticism over remarks that residents who cannot afford to live in the capital should consider relocating to growth points or other areas they can afford.
The comments, made during a radio interview, have drawn sharp reactions from social justice commentators and the Harare Residents Trust, amid the city’s ongoing crackdown on vendors and efforts to decongest the central business district.
Political analyst Takura Zhangazha said the remarks were unfortunate, arguing that Zimbabweans should be free to pursue livelihoods wherever they live in the country.
“There is no special place that can refuse a Zimbabwean citizen a source of livelihood,” Zhangazha said.
He said Mafume and local government Minister Daniel Garwe should reconsider their approach to urban livelihoods, arguing that citizens have equal rights to make a living in both urban and rural areas.
Zhangazha described the approach as “fundamentally inhumane.”
Social justice expert Farai Maguwu also condemned the remarks, saying they were in “very bad taste.”
“If they were meant to be a joke, then it was a very dry joke,” Maguwu said.
He argued that every citizen has a right to the city, while blaming the proliferation of street vending partly on failures by authorities to provide adequate infrastructure for informal traders.
“Vending reflects governance failure at multiple levels, including Harare City Council’s failure to build adequate infrastructure for vendors,” Maguwu said.
The Harare Residents Trust also weighed in, accusing Mafume of becoming arrogant.
“The villager is becoming arrogant in his borrowed robes. Without the recall of Councillor Ian Makone, he would be nowhere near the Mayor’s Office,” said Precious Shumba, of the Harare Residents Trust.
The criticism comes as the City of Harare intensifies its urban regeneration and decongestion programme, targeting vending and other trading activities in non-designated areas.
Council has maintained that vendors should operate from designated trading spaces, saying the operation is intended to restore order, cleanliness, safety and accessibility in the capital.
