A consortium of informal traders has completed a draft bill for the regularisation of the informal economy and wants it pushed into Parliament to create a legal framework for the operations of its members.
Currently, there is lack of a clear legal framework that speaks to the informal traders in the country save for outdated city by-laws which criminalise their operations at a time most livelihoods are being sustained by vending.
The Bill seeks to then establish the creation of an Informal Economy Advisory Board that will be responsible for regularising informal traders and engaging authorities on pressing matters.
“We are pushing for the promulgation of a legal framework to govern the operations of the informal economy having realised that we currently do not have such a thing here in Zimbabwe,” said Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association, director, Mike Ndiweni.
He said the bill seeks to also deal with the issue of abuse of informal traders by authorities, provision of social security schemes and safe working spaces among other issues.
“When we talk of informalisation it is always thought of taxation and getting licenses for businesses. But for us its beyond that. Here we want informal traders to also have social security like pensions. We also need to have medical aid and so forth. Through this board we can be able to arrange such initiatives.”
The draft paper which was started some three years ago with stakeholder consultations has since been completed and is now being shared with various stakeholders to drum up support before being pushed to Parliament.
“We want to assist policy makers with this draft and assist in the formalisation of the informal economy,” said Samuel Wadzai, director at Vendors Initiative for Social Economic Transformation (VISET) which is part of the consortium.
Formalisation of the informal traders has often times been met with resistance as there is a trade-off between gaining recognition and paying taxes once they formalise.
“It is about which one outweighs the other in terms of merit. Yes formalisation means abiding by taxes but there are many benefits in formalising. Besides, currently informal traders are paying those same taxes indirectly by constantly paying small bribes to local authorities who chase them every day,” said Ndiweni.
