The night run: how Zimbabwean traders are dodging import restrictions
ON JUNE 17‚ Zimbabwe’s authorities imposed restrictions on imports of foreign dental fillings‚ kitchen sinks‚ baby formulae‚ pencils and much more. Cross border vendors‚ dependent on this trade to survive‚ have become desperate.Long distance buses with empty trailers can now be seen on the Zimbabwean side of the border. Angry traders set ablaze a warehouse full of seized tomato cans‚ blankets and farming implements at the Beitbridge border crossing in July‚ as police ran for cover.According to Zimbabwe’s Minister of Industry and Commerce‚ Michael Bimha‚ the restrictions have been implemented to "allow our local companies to retool and increase production. It is temporary‚ and we will remove the law after some time."READ THIS: Protecting SA’s porous borders tops Parliament’s list after recessOfficers at Zimbabwe’s land borders seize items like wheelbarrows‚ cement‚ or jars of olive oil from travellers and bus crews‚ and put these goods in warehouses. This has been a blow to informal...
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