HARARE, Zimbabwe — As Zimbabwe marked 45 years of independence on Friday, the country’s main vendors union said millions of informal workers remain excluded from the benefits of liberation and continue to suffer under economic hardship and state harassment.
In a statement titled “Still Fighting for Freedom,” the National Vendors Union Zimbabwe (NAVUZ) said the nation’s six million informal traders — including vendors, cross-border traders and street hawkers — face poverty, extortion and punitive policies despite sustaining the economy from the shadows.
“Independence was meant to mean freedom — freedom from oppression, from poverty, from fear,” the union said. “Yet today, many vendors… remain shackled by poverty, crushed by the weight of a harsh 2% tax, and terrorized by rogue law enforcement officers.”
NAVUZ criticized the government for sidelining informal workers in policymaking and failing to recognize their contributions, saying they have “built markets without walls, businesses without bank loans, and informal industries without recognition.”
The union called on authorities to scrap the 2% Intermediated Money Transfer Tax on informal transactions, stop the harassment of vendors by police and municipal officers, and implement inclusive policies that support micro-entrepreneurs with access to trading spaces and financial services.
“This Independence Day, we do not only celebrate — we demand,” NAVUZ said. “We do not only remember the past — we fight for a better future. A future where informal workers are not criminalized, but empowered. Not hunted, but honored. Not silenced, but heard.”
