By Staff Reporter
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) says economic and political instability in the country is scaring away investors, a development that has deeply affected the working class.
The National Social Security Authority (NSSA) recently revealed that at least 10 companies are closing down every month, with about 1 800 workers losing their jobs in the first quarter of the year.
The implosion within the ruling party, ZANU PF, has seen focus development and the economy taking a back seat, as the former liberation movement battles to contain infighting that threatens to tear the party apart, ahead of its crunch elective congress in December.
Speaking at an Informal Traders conference in Bulawayo, ZCTU Western Region chairperson Reason Ngwenya told delegates that the economic and political situation in that country was worrying and many potential investors had lost confidence.
“Zimbabwe is very unstable at the moment, how can investors come to invest in a country which is unstable like ours?” Ngwenya asked.
Zanu PF, which has been in power since ending colonial rule in 1980, has prescribed various solutions to the country’s troubled economy in the last two decades and all of them have failed to stimulate the much needed growth.
The latest economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset), needs almost $30 billion to fund projects outlined in the document.
Ngwenya opined that since the introduction of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) in the 1990s, the economy has failed to fully recover, resulting in massive job losses both in the public and private sectors.
With the informal sector thriving, Ngwenya urged the police and local authorities to treat informal businesses with dignity.
“Vendors must be handled with respect and we do not want to see people running from police and council at the time when they are supposed to be conducting their business in order to sustain their families,” he said.
Bulawayo, once touted as the industrial hub of Zimbabwe, has become a shell, with most companies closing shop, while others relocated to Harare, leaving thousands of people jobless who have turned to the informal sector for survival.
