Marginalised? The struggles of People With Disability

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PWD CHAIR

By Fungai Munetsi

Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA) People With Disability Chair for Kwekwe Territory Hlahla Ncube joined ZCIEA in 2015. He started the Poultry farming business in 2008 and he is looking after four members of the family from that business.

Zimbabwe’s disabled people are usually the last to be hired and as a result, most of them resort to begging and vending selling items such as cell phones, airtime, sweets, clothes, watches, and fruit from the pavements, competing with able-bodied fellow vendors.

“As People With Disabilities operating in the informal economy, we face a lot of challenges and barriers daily in our society. People with disabilities in Zimbabwe are marginalized and treated as if they are not capable of functioning on their own. Disability is equated with inability. People With Disability surviving through trading in the informal economy face harassment and criminalization, at times their goods confiscated by local authorities,” said Mr. Ncube.

He also mentioned that one of the prominent challenges involves disabled vendors being made to pay extra fees by the City Council Authorities for double slots or bays mainly because their wheelchairs cannot fit within the small vending stalls or bays allotted individually.

We face discrimination in the transport sector, motorists or commuter omnibus conductors are reluctant to accommodate Person With Disability (with a wheelchair). People With Disabilities are excluded in terms of accessing loans, access trading space as compared to able-bodied persons. Most buildings are not accessible to person on a wheelchair, therefore disability friendly structures will ease accesibility challenges. 

“ZCIEA has empowered me through education and training on the rights of People With Disabilities and constitution, negotiation skills training, improve your business training, and networking with other PWD members throughout Zimbabwe. After joining ZCIEA, the organization has equipped me to effectively educate and recruit other People With Disability to work for themselves, defend or fight for their rights,” said Mr. Ncube.

“As ZCIEA PWD Chair for Kwekwe Territory I urge our Zimbabwean Government to include People With Disabilities when rolling out National Youth Empowerment programs, ” said Mr. Ncube.Share

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Published by zcieazimnews

The Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations ZCIEA is a National Membership driven Organization representing Informal Traders Associations of Zimbabwe. It is made up of the self employed and informal employees engaged in small unregistered or un-incorporated enterprises and undeclared workers. THE VISION Decent standards of living for all Zimbabweans in a stable economy. THE MISSION Alleviating poverty through transforming informal economy activities into mainstream activities. ZCIEA SLOGAN “ The Chamber That Delivers” Objectives To organize, establish, promote and protect the interest of the informal economy traders in Zimbabwe. To foster for democratization of the environment through rights awareness, lobby and advocacy programmes targeting the rank and file of the Informal Economy Workers. To capacitate ZCIEA structures in a manner that enables them to engage authorities at all levels and demand accountability whilst operating proficiently. To influence policy formations which will bring about social and economic change whilst providing for the transformation of the Informal Economy activities in Zimbabwe and beyond. Our History The organization was founded in 2002 by a group of 22 Informal Traders Associations who desired to have an Apex body for this massive 84% of the Zimbabwean Economy which paradoxically had a weak voice, vulnerable to harassments, political abuse , no income security and lack of social protection. This was a direct response to the collapse of formal setups as a result of Economic Structural Adjustment programme (ESAP) which was introduces by the Zimbabwean government in the 1990s. The company closures, retrenchments and the inability of formal structures to absorb the job seekers gave rise to massive expansion of the informal economy. On seeing the continued marginalization of this sector, formation of this Apex body was a result of a tripartite decision by ZCTU (Labour) EMCOZ (Business) and Ministry of Labour (Government). The objective was to harness these precarious operations and seek means and strategies that will facilitate mainstreaming of the Informal Economy with a view to empowering it socially and economically.

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