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Byo mayor responds to tough love whilst 63 appear in court in Harare
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
July 03, 2006

Monday afternoon - 3rd July 2006

HARARE update. Sixty-three WOZA members arrested on Valentine's Day appeared in court again today in Harare. They are on trial charged under Section 7(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act - conduct likely to disturb the ordinary comfort of the public. The trial has yet to begin however and has once again been postponed to 11th July 2006.

Meanwhile in Bulawayo WOZA visit the Mayor

Bulawayo Mayor, Japhet Ndabeni Ncube addresses members of WOZA outsite the City Hall

Approximately 500 WOZA members marched to City Hall this morning to lobby Bulawayo Mayor, Japhet Ndabeni Ncube, about the right to trade. WOZA met with the Mayor 10 days ago to request that the Bulawayo City Council stop participating in the Government's ongoing vendetta against honest people trying to eke out a living. The Mayor was given a deadline of one week to stop these activities or he would face a dose of 'Tough Love' from WOZA. The week being up, WOZA delivered on its promise.

Most WOZA members are themselves informal traders and are no longer interested in remaining silent about the ongoing harassment they are facing. As one of the placards they were carrying read: 'A child who remains silent on its mother's back will die.'

Having marched peacefully from the Revenue Hall and Tower Block, the women sat outside the entrance to City Hall singing, "Ndabeni, please tell Chombo, Chihuri and Mathema that we want to be allowed to sell", whilst representatives went into the building to speak with the Mayor. They were received by the Mayor who asked them their business before agreeing to speak with the group waiting patiently outside. (The two youthful representatives had to share their courage with the Mayor to encourage him to address the group. They further reminded him that WOZA is a non-violent movement).

As the representatives walked upstairs to the Mayor's office, they overheard Council spokesman Pathisa Nyathi saying he was going to call the police and have the group arrested. Within minutes a police officer arrived, identifying himself as the 'boss' of a plain-clothed unit called PISI. When the Mayor came, he told the officer that these women were his 'children' coming to their father to make their grievances made and refused to allow them to be arrested. He then proceeded to read the placards held by the women and answer them, with the officer in tow.

One of the placards he commented on read, "Maye babo! Ndabeni wasiyekela sisifa labantwabami sizancedwa ngubani? (Oh dear, Ndabeni you have left us to die with our children - who is going to help us?) He asked, 'who has killed you?' and when the crowd replied that it was he, defended himself by saying, 'I am the one helping you.' In response to the placard about the child on its mother's back being unable to cry out, the Mayor replied that he would free that baby.

The Council spokesman was also seen to be reading the placard directed at him, which read, 'Pathisa Nyathi - where is your spirit of Ubuntu?' He was quoted recently saying Council would continue to harass vendors.

Before the women dispersed, the police officer present questioned one of the members, asking about the leadership, WOZA's offices and if they had a letter of authority to demonstrate. The member answered that she had the right to protest peacefully under the constitution, that WOZA's office is in the 'street' and referred to the crowd as the bosses of the demonstration. Unimpressed, he threatened to take her into custody. There have been no reports of arrests to date and we expect that the Mayor's word of caution to the officer sufficed to warn him off. Nonetheless, he was frustrated enough to order the dispersing women to pick up their placards left on the floor for the Mayor's attention.

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