Zvishavane hit hard by ZIMRA import ban

Davison Marenga

Zvishavane – Informal traders in the mining town of Zvishavane have been hit hard by the recent ban of imports by ZIMRA and many are seeing an uncertain future lying ahead if the authorities stand by their decision.

South Africa offered cheap goods like food, clothing, building materials and furniture to the already struggling Zimbabweans, and ZIMRA decided to close the avenues of those goods to the suffering people  urging them to buy local manufactured goods which are expensive and beyond the reach of many. Zvishavane has no industry except mining and, many relied on imported goods for their daily livelihood. 

Traders mostly from the flea markets and grocery shops are the most affected as they got most  of their wares from  neighboring countries South Africa, Zambia and Botswana. They are now forced to buy local goods which are expensive and at times below standard.

“They are denying us the right to live.. They want to promote local goods but where are the local goods. If they happen to be there they are sold at exorbitant  prices and who would want to buy expensive things nowadays”, said one of the vendors.

Most residents of Zvishavane believe that the authorities are only concerned about their welfare and not the people they profess to protect.

“The only reason they have taken this stance is to promote their businesses nothing else. All they want is to see us suffer and then they come pretending to be the Messiahs of this world,” said an irritated Blessing Phiri.

“I’m worried now about what happens when I exhaust my wares. I  hope they will revise their decision in the near future because its causing unrest in the country”, he added.

Some informal traders  in furniture manufacturing welcomed the move by ZIMRA saying this will help them realise bumper sales as people will  buy from them instead of importing.

“I am a happy man now. I look forward to improving my sales. Life was a bit hard as people were importing most of their furniture from South Africa and Botswana”, said one of carpenter.news