To my fellow vendors, those who wake before the sun, who hustle through dust and doubt, who know the price of tomatoes better than the price of gold:
This is for you.
Because this budget is anti-people. We are on our own, ladies and gentlemen. Like I said last week, government’s macro wins do not trickle down to the people. The ZiG currency is still in limbo. And Mthuli Ncube’s tax regime burdens the very people it claims to uplift — we, the ordinary men and women trying to eke out a living on these harsh streets.
To the Honourable Minister of Finance: we heard your budget speech. We saw the suits nodding. We read the headlines that called it “bold,” “visionary,” even “pro-poor.” But we also counted our coins, and they’re still not enough.
You say you’ve reduced the IMTT from 2% to 1.5% for ZiG transactions. That’s cute. But most of us trade in USD, because your ZiG hasn’t earned our trust yet. We’ve seen currencies come and go — bearer cheques, bond notes, RTGS, and now this gold-dusted ghost. So your “reduction” is a discount on a currency we don’t use, while the real tax — the 2% on USD — remains untouched. That’s not relief. That’s theatre. A magician’s trick with no magic—just sleight of hand.
And then you raised VAT by 0.5%. That’s not just a tax on transactions — it’s a tax on survival. It hits our groceries, our school fees, our airtime, our hustle. You gave with one hand and took with both. You called it “fiscal balancing.” We call it “balancing on our backs.”
Let me break it down for you, vendor-style:
– When VAT goes up, bread goes up.
– When IMTT stays high, EcoCash becomes a luxury.
– When taxes pile up, customers vanish.
– When the cascade clogs, we drown.
You call it “Building Resilience for Sustained Economic Transformation.” We call it “Budgeting Without Us.” Because if you had walked through Mbare before you walked into Parliament, you’d know that resilience isn’t built by taxing the last dollar of a tomato vendor. It’s built by trust. And right now, trust is in short supply — just like change.
You say the economy is growing. We don’t deny it. We’ve seen the wheat harvest. We’ve heard about the gold. We know Dangote is coming. But tell me, Honourable Minister: what does a record wheat yield mean when a loaf of bread still costs more than a day’s profit? What does 6% GDP growth mean when my child’s school fees are paid in tears?
You want us to believe in the ZiG. But belief is not built on slogans. It’s built on stability. On access. On the ability to buy cooking oil without needing a calculator. Until your currency can do that, it’s just a symbol — like a flag with no wind.
We’re not asking for miracles. We’re asking for fairness. For a budget that walks the streets before it walks into Parliament. For a currency that buys tomatoes before it buys headlines. For a tax system that sees the vendor not as a revenue stream, but as a citizen.
Because right now, your budget is a spreadsheet with no soul. It’s a press release with no pulse. It’s a promise that skips the queue and leaves the vendor behind.
So here’s our counter-budget:
– Scrap the 2% IMTT on USD. It’s not just extortionate—it’s exclusionary.
– Expand access to microfinance that doesn’t prey on desperation.
– Formalise the informal without criminalising it.
– Let the vendor register without needing a lawyer, a cousin in council, and a miracle.
– And above all, let the economy walk with us — not over us.
_Until the budget speaks to the streets, it’s just noise_