CZR warns downtown businesses

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers (CZR) yesterday summoned downtown and foreign traders to regularise their operations by accepting mobile banking and swipe.

CZR president, Denford Mutashu yesterday met with the foreign and downtown traders in Harare who said to have been refusing ecocash and swipe and they agreed issues of regularisation and compliance with the law of the land.

Some of the issues that we have discussed include the issues of proper conduct, for example the need for players to make sure that they regularize and comply with the laws of the country.

Some of them indicated that it was actually up to ignorant that they have been operating the way they were doing,” he said.

The meeting might have been triggered by Zanu PF youth leaders, Pupurai Togarepi and Lewis Matutu who on Wednesday threatened to close all shops that refuse to accept ecocash and swipe.

Go and tell your bosses that if this shop continues to not to accept eccocash or swipe, we will close it,” Matutu said while threatening one shop in CBD.

The business that we see here is not the business to sell wears or groceries, is the business to sell money and the disadvantage is for the people of Zimbabwe,” said Togarepi

Mutashu was responding to the concerns that were raised by the general public that the downtown and foreign traders have been refusing payment in ecocash or swipe.

We have got some that are coming from other countries that are also operating there and there are quite a number of Zimbabweans that are operating there. The issue of banking, complying with taxes, regulations of the country, shop licensing and quit a number of issues.

What we believe is that from now on we will be working together with all the players and ensure that we help them regularize their operations so that the government can also benefit from taxation,” he said.

CZR gave the businesses three months to comply with the laws of the country.“We will actually come up with a timeline, provisionally there is a three months that have been agreed for a period that the issues would have been handled,” he said.