MAY
2.1 June 2020: When the economy becomes a human rights issue
S Tozvireva/The Standard
June 1, 2020, marked 62 days after government imposed a lockdown, and put a complete restriction on
the operations of the informal sector. For a country that has over 94 percent of its citizens in the informal
sector according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat), it meant more than two months
of no income for citizens.
This, no doubt, increased the vulnerability and left those in the informal sector under pressure to start
their operations, even when government still maintained strict restrictions.
This situation, coupled with a heavy-handed state security, contributed to many human rights violations,
with those in the informal sector attempting to operate because they were left with no choice, and the
state security sector reacting to that using unlawful methods.
Even when government announced that those in the informal sector could start operating, the strict
measures, which include registration and ensuring sanitization of facilities for clients, were far out of reach
of the majority of people who rely on very basic work such as vending.
This was at a time when the country’s inflation surged to 785.55 percent, according to ZimStat; and the
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe pegged the monthly bread basket for a family of six at ZWL$8,500, an
amount that was beyond the reach of many in the informal sector.
In the end, the human rights violations witnessed were a result of an attempt by those who survive on
informal work to get themselves out of the worsening poverty and vulnerability.
The situation was worsened by government’s failure to provide social grants to the majority of those
affected by the lockdown.
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