Search

The Chamber that Delivers - a report from the ZCIEA Congress, Zimbabwe

I was privileged to be invited to attend the Congress of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA) held Nyanga, Zimbabwe from 22-24 October.

The formation of ZCIEA began in 2002 as the result of a joint Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Commonwealth Trade Union Council (CTUC) project which aimed to bridge the gap between the trade union movement and informal economy workers and to build the capacity of informal workers to secure economic and social justice. ZCIEA was officially launched in 2004, and in the same year signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ZCTU setting out the terms of their bipartite relationship. Since that time, and despite many setbacks including the Operation Murambatsvina period in 2005, when the homes and businesses of thousands of informal economy workers and their families were destroyed, ZCIEA has grown into an impressive national organisation with individual members in all sectors of the economy throughout Zimbabwe.

During the Congress I was able to interview delegates, many of them women with sole responsibility for their children and extended families. Although many of the women are living in very precarious circumstances I was hugely impressed by the concern they expressed about people in their communities who were even worse off - homeless people, disabled women and men orphaned children. The great aspiration of ZCIEA is improve conditions for everyone in the informal economy by bringing them under the ZCIEA umbrella: to organise; educate; empower; advocate and represent.

Evangelist is a fish trader who around once a month travels 680 kms from her home in Kwekwe to buy fish from Lake Kariba where she cleans and dries it, staying in a very rough fishing camp until she has sufficient fish to make her journey worthwhile but barely making a living. Regina from Binga, near Lake Kariba, is also a fish trader and sells either in a local market or sometimes travels to Bulawayo.

Besnat, from Matabeland North, lives with her retired husband, four children and grandson and does sewing, making school uniforms at home and selling from her house. She would like to have a workshop because it's difficult to store all her materials at home and says it's a struggle to make ends meet. She has been involved with ZCIEA for two years and says the advocacy skills she has learned have helped her participate in the constitution-making process, women's groups and in her church.

Lydia, from Plumtree on the Botswana border, is a widow with two children and works as a fruit and vegetable trader. She buys in Bulawayo, bringing the produce 100 kms by bus and selling in a vendor market provided by the City Council. She earns enough for food for her family but has problems paying school fees. Her home has no electricity and she has to use bottled water. She says ZCIEA has stopped her being isolated and wants to work with them to improve conditions for fellow traders, many of whom are homeless and cannot get stalls in the Council market.

Lucia, from Masvingo, travels to South Africa to buy clothes and sells them in a stall in town, for which she pays $55 a month. She has two children in their 20s, both of them students and dependent on her and says it is difficult to pay for everything. She has been involved with ZCIEA since 2006 and has received training in business management. She says that ZCIEA networking activities means that problems with the City Council can be addressed collectively.

Faustina from Mashonaland West looks after her disabled husband, one dependent child and four orphaned grandchildren. She grows vegetables in a co-operative, sells by the roadside and struggles to pay school fees for the grandchildren. Noddy from Gokwe North keeps a cow and chickens and wells eggs and milk by the roadside to help support her 12 grandchildren. ZCIEA has helped improve both women's knowledge and skills.

Nyaradzo is from Chitungwiza, near Harare, makes peanut butter and is a cross-border trader, buying clothes in South Africa and Botswana and selling them in Chitungwiza, where she would love to have a permanent stall. She has been involved with ZCIEA for over 2 years and they are well organised and informed, with the last meeting attended by 312 people. Nyaradzo says people buy clothes from her because she allows them to pay in instalments, a facility not available in formal shops.

Chipo is a young single woman from Harare who does beadwork and makes candles and vaseline. She belongs to the Young Women's Initiative for Development which is an affiliate of ZCIEA and has been able to participate in training workshops on business development. She lives with her parents, who struggle to pay college fees for her younger brother, but she cannot afford to pay rent.

Stella, a widow from Victoria Falls, lives with her three children and 4 grandchildren. She buys vegetables from local farmers and sells them in an informal market. She has to pay rent but the market has no toilet facilities and no protection in the rainy season or when it is windy. She pays $100 a month for 2 rooms and struggles to make ends meet and pay school fees. ZCIEA has helped people with small loans and brokered discussions with the local Council to try to improve market facilities.

Edina, from Kadoma, represented the Zimbabwe Disabled Workers Association, another affiliate of ZCIEA, at the Congress. She was disabled through a workplace accident in 1990 and her pension is only $15 a month, which is impossible to live on. She would like to see ZCIEA doing more for people who are unable to work through disability and was very encouraged by the resolutions of the Congress.

Much of the responsibility for ZCIEA activities in the future rests with Philip Sanzvenga from Mutare, the newly-elected President. Philip worked in the formal sector until 1990 when he was made redundant and has been involved with ZCIEA since the outset, being elected as a territorial president in Manicaland. He trades in potatoes, dried beans, yams and vegetables bought from rural farms and his wife works with him in the business. In Manicaland province, some markets have been destroyed and members dispersed but ZCIEA has strived to maintain and rebuild membership. As well as agriculture, other ZCIEA members are involved in cross-border trading, clay pot making and sculpture.

The ZCIEA slogan is 'The Chamber that Delivers'. The organisation has made huge advances since its foundation and the TUC has given a commitment to work with the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions to identify resources that will help to build the membership and activities of ZCIEA to improve the livelihoods of the 2 million informal economy workers.

ZCIEA Congress 2010 by Annie Watson, TUC Adviser

Briefing document (1,200 words) issued 15 Nov 2010