Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation (VISET) joins the nation and the rest of the progressive world in commemorating Workers Day, who’s 2024 theme is “Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing environment.” In Zimbabwe, the day was gazetted as a holiday in April 1980, with the then Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Kumbirai Kangai saying the day would be set aside as an occasion for workers to celebrate, and for the nation to acknowledge the contribution of its work force.
Due to changes in the national economy, it is estimated by the International Labour Organization (ILO) that more than 5.2 million people trade in the informal economy in Zimbabwe, 65 percent of whom are women. https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/outside-box-resilience-keeps-economy-moving. Through the Informal Economy Women’s Hub (INEWOH), we will continue to advocate for policies and initiatives that address the specific challenges faced by women in the informal economy, recognizing diversity and inclusion as fundamental principles that should guide gender equality. It is important to ensure that the voices of the marginalized groups within the informal economy, including women with disabilities and youth are represented in decision-making processes.
What the above illustrates is that whilst official recognition is only granted to formally employed persons, the most economically active demographic is eking a living in the informal economy, now referred to as the popular economy. The challenges that these workers face include lack of recognition, worker benefits, or social protection. However, despite these challenges, the popular economy has managed to withstand the shocks that have weathered the Zimbabwean economy, ensuring that workers put food on the table and send children to school.
Due to the relatively lower barriers to entry, marginalized groups such as people with disabilities, have found succour in the popular economy, as employment opportunities are much more limited for them, with many rarely going beyond the primary level of education. This puts greater impetus on making sure working conditions in the sector are safe and accessible.
We at VISET believe that for workers in the popular economy to get protection at law, their trade must first be decriminalized, followed by recognition, and then protection. Government led initiatives such as the Formalization Strategy, are policy propositions that we fully support, to grant our membership the much-needed protection at law. We acknowledge and recognise the work done thus far by the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare and the broader informal economy ecosystem to ensure that there is a draft formalisation strategy document for Zimbabwe which is now awaiting cabinet approval. We are convinced that an inclusive and democratic formalisation process will go a long way in transforming the prosperities of women informal workers. The commitment and level of participation shown by women informal workers during the consultative stages of the process brings hope to a sector that has suffered a lot as a result of lack of recognition and support from the government and local authorities.
It is however disturbing to note that the City of Harare has embarked on operations targeting popular economy workers, through the introduction of what they term as Environmental Police. There can be no doubt that there is need to keep our environs and cities in pristine condition through guarding against littering, but we are totally opposed to what we see as a deliberate singling out and victimization of popular economy workers. We look forward to engaging the Mayor of Harare and his team on this issue.
As we commemorate this May Day, we take the occasion to remind policymakers that the only way to ensure safety and health at work in a changing environment is through leaving no worker behind when formulating policies that affect their livelihoods. In that way, we will truly be on our way to achieving an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
