Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume has thrown his weight behind government’s renewed ban on second-hand clothing sales, arguing the capital cannot survive on “bhero” trade.
Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe this week reaffirmed the prohibition, along with a clampdown on night vending in the city.
Addressing councillors on Thursday, Mafume said it was contradictory for Zimbabwe to grow cotton yet rely on used clothes from abroad.
“We cannot have a society that aspires to wear second-hand clothes,” he said. “It’s an oxymoron — we export cotton, the clothes are made elsewhere, worn by others, and then we buy them again. We must deal with this issue sensitively, but Harare cannot be sustained by bales.”
Although banned by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) since 2015, second-hand clothing remains popular due to its low cost, with smugglers taking advantage of porous borders to supply street vendors.
The trade has also flourished at night, but authorities now want that practice stopped as part of a broader clean-up of city commerce.
