HARARE – The National Vendors Union Zimbabwe (NAVUZ) has registered its anger over space barons who are endlessly extorting money from thousands of desperate Zimbabweans selling wares on the streets.
This comes at a time when vendors have been ordered out of the streets and pavements .While the calls have intensified, some people, termed, ‘space barons’ have continuously milked money from the fraught vendors.
According to Samuel Wadzai, NAVUZ boss, space barons charge between $8 and $13 per vendor.
He said space barons remit very little to council and pocket the rest.
“The removal of space barons will unlock significant resources for both the City of Harare and the vendors and is a useful step in the fight against corruption both in the allocation of vending sites and in the collection of rates by the Harare City Council,” reads a statement issued by NAVUZ.
The Vendors’ Union which is clearly against space barons applauded the City Council for showing interest in eliminating space barons.
“We wish to commend the Harare City Council for taking heed to our long held calls that vendors must deal directly with the City of Harare and not through intermediaries or space barons who, for a long time, have been milking the vendors to death,” says the statement.
While reading the statement Wadzai said, “NAVUZ fully supports any efforts meant to deal with the issue of space barons and in this regard, it will fully support the Councilors of Harare in all their endeavors to eradicate the problem of land barons in Harare.
“NAVUZ has always made it clear that the City of Harare on one hand, was losing lots of its much-needed revenue to space barons, while on the other hand, vendors were also being financially squeezed to death by the same.”
