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Chitungwiza
community bulletin - July 2012 Download
this document Young entrepreneurs need operating premises The spirit of self-reliance, self-dependence and entrepreneurship is very much alive in the town of Chitungwiza, situated some 30 kilometers to the south of Harare. A drive around the town reveals that the residents are actively defying the area's residential tag with small-scale industries, open-air showrooms and backyard factories juxtaposed side by side with homes turning the sprawling township into a hybrid industrial-residential place. Known colloquially as Chi-town, the bustling high-density residential area was established as a dormitory town to house mainly workers from Harare's industrial areas, relieving the congestion in the capital's townships. The third largest and fastest growing urban area in Zimbabwe, Chitungwiza has grown tremendously since attaining full municipal status into a huge people's town with an estimated population of nearly a million inhabitants. Entrepreneurs drawn from all walks of life ply their diverse trades under trees, backyards, by the roadside and on any open space available in the town. The common denominator and defining feature of these business-people and their enterprises is that they are trying to provide for their families and alleviate unemployment through businesses like carpentry, welding, hairdressing, catering, motor mechanics, shoe repairs, vending, sewing and dress-making among others at street corners, backyard and open spaces. Emmanuel Nyamakayi is a 32 year old young entrepreneur who is into carpentry, manufacturing items such lounge suits, wardrobes, kitchen units, dining suits among others in Unit O, Seke, Chitungwiza. Emmanuel stays at the family's home along Muchongoyo Street and operates from under a big tree along Nyamaropa Street which is the main road in Unit O. Emmanuel's family house is hidden inside the neighborhood and if he use that place for manufacturing and marketing, his products will not be seen by people and will not realize enough income to look after his family thats why he uses the big tree along Nyamaropa street which provide shade to him and his products during the day. He wakes up early at six o'clock in the morning and start carrying his finished products and work in progress to his workshop and showroom. At the end of the day, Emmanuel also carry his finished goods and work in progress back home for security purposes during since he operate from open air. "As you can see I operate from open air and the weather can just change and start raining making me incur losses as I have to rework on my products again. I ask Chitungwiza Municipality and the government to pro-vide land for entrepreneurs to build operating premises" said Emmanuel At the most basic level, these young entrepreneurs are hardworking Zimbabweans who chose self-employment as their response to the nation's unemployment problems which are estimated to be around 90% by some experts. They did not sit back and complain about the lack of employment opportunities and their miserable condition. They did not demand anything from anyone but they took whatever was available; be it an open space in their backyard or by the roadside, utilized it and created income-generating opportunities for themselves and their families. Most of them are former factory workers, skilled and experienced in their trades, who were retrenched during the country's decade-long economic recession as companies closed down or downsized. Some are graduates and qualified artisan's who could not find employment in the formal sector and decided to start business with little in terms of capital. All of them are driven by self-belief and a 'can do' attitude that has seen them develop the income generating projects against all odds in a hostile economic, legal and operating environment. They are resourceful, resilient, innovative and independent thinkers who deserve to be applauded and supported, not harassed and intimidated by society for seeking to meet their needs after realizing there was demand for goods and services which they could meet .It is a glaring injustice under any circumstances to punish these entrepreneurs for being too poor to buy or rent proper premises from which to operate their businesses from. In fact, these laws/ by-laws violate the poor business people's right to work and participate in economic processes.
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