Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
BULAWAYO councillors have again resolved to close the entire Fifth Avenue vegetable trading market site and have the road reserved only for vehicular traffic in an effort to enhance urban planning, bolster safety and foster sustainable business growth.
The 5th Avenue Vegetable Market, from Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street up to Robert Mugabe Way is home to Bulawayo’s fresh vegetable supply and has been a bone of contention for several years, with municipal police constantly engaging in running battles with traders at the site for operating illegally.
According to the latest council report, councillors have resolved to disband the market site and relocate all the vendors operating there.
“The Director of Town Planning (Mr Wisdom Siziba) reported that the MSMEs Resilience and Sustainability Strategy underscored the significance of Land, Infrastructure and Decent Workspaces in the urban fabric of Bulawayo. In an effort to enhance urban planning, bolster safety, and foster sustainable business growth, the strategy talked to the implementation of a meticulously phased approach for the disbandment and relocation of specific MSME trading sites.
“One such site that had been identified is the 5th Avenue market site to address the prevailing discord in and around that area. This report delineated the strategic framework that would guide the management of this transition,” reads the report.
The local authority noted that the decision to cease operations at the 5th Avenue trading site was necessitated by the substantial operational risks associated with its continued existence.
They noted that despite numerous engagements with Bulawayo MSMEs Working Group that had proffered other solutions to the crisis, the local authority was going to continue with the disbandment and hence there will be no licence renewals for this year.
“The proposal to disband the 5th Avenue trading site was expected to proceed as planned, commencing with a cessation of license renewals for the year 2025. The Bulawayo City Council was committed to prioritising the rapid development of safe workspaces at the Bhakta’s site.
Fifth Avenue vegetable trading market
“Traders currently licensed for the 2024 operational year along 5th Avenue shall receive precedence in occupying the new Bhakta’s site, catering to both fruits, vegetables and clothing, subsequent allocations would be derived from 5th Avenue traders who had renewed their licences prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020,” reads the report.
The local authority further revealed that if this list remained insufficient, they would consider accommodating traders who operated at 5th Avenue regardless of their licence renewal status.
“The new site would strive to achieve an equitable balance among the diverse needs of MSMEs, encompassing clothing, fruits, vegetables and various other goods. Notably, it was recognised that, thus far, no traders had occupied the Bhakta’s site in 2024, despite certain traders having remitted payments for several months,” reads the report.
At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, in June 2020, the local authority introduced a raft of measures aimed at curbing the spread of the pandemic, these also notably included the order to shut down the open-air market along 5th Avenue.
The local authority even declared that the road will be opened to the motoring public.
However, vendors seemingly ignored the local authority and upscaled their operations as they closed off the entire road, barring any vehicles from driving through the area or even finding any parking bay.
In February last year, the local authority decided to reverse the decision to shut off the site, giving in to informal traders who had continued operating despite the ban.
In a bid to address the filth and chaos along 5th Avenue the local authority then ordered the informal traders to vacate the road to allow the implementation of a council resolution on the rehabilitation of the vending site and setting up of proper vending bays.
Again, informal traders operating along the street ignored this directive.
The road has since turned to be chaotic, with push carts and vendors displaying wares on the streets while others are in long queues to buy vegetables from the fresh produce shops.
It has since been turned into a mini-market where one can get anything from vegetables to cooked food stuffs, groceries and even second-hand clothes are now being sold along the street, with some even displaying their merchandise from car boots.
To make matters worse, there is little concern for hygiene, thereby exposing the public to a health hazard, while others sold illegal alcoholic beverages and dangerous drugs such as marijuana.
