MUTARE- The National Vendors Union of Zimbabwe is optimistic of offering survival packages to its membership during the 21 day lockdown when all their operations will be down.
This comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week imposed a three week national lockdown to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
NAZUV president Sten Zvorwadza confirmed the development to 263CHAT that his organisation is securing electronic cash handouts to ease the burden of the locdkwon in the country’s highly informal economy.
He said that the national union was working out payment modalities and beneficiaries which will also include other informal traders not under NAVUZ.
“As National Vendors Union of Zimbabwe we have been advocating for the lockdown, we wanted government to come up with a lockdown strategy.
“Efforts are currently underway to rejuvenate, activate our members resilience and to communicate a language of hope to our members, that you will not die of hunger because we have taken a step, we are pushing for efforts that will ensure they get something.
“We are aware that a lockdown in an informal economy like ours, has its adverse effects, so in the context we thought that we need to be able to push avenues ensure our members are assisted,” he said.
Zvorwadza said all members of the informal sector who are under distress and may need assistance should laise with his organisation which is setting up a database for disbursements.
He rallied informal traders in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic, saying their efforts were complimentary to government.
“We want all members of the informal sector to get in touch with us through whatsapp or telephone calls so that we get these people assisted.We are fully on track to have informal traders benefit during the lockdown period.
“If government fails to make it we fail to make it, if it succeeds we also succeed together. I want to be optimistic that we will get somewhere over this twenty one day lockdown period,” said Zvorwadza.
