Good afternoon. The long-running fight against informal retail shacks and street sellers has claimed Manuel de Araújo, the mayor of the city of Quelimane, as its latest victim (see below). De Araújo, a member of opposition party Renamo, claims that the criminal case against him was “politicised”, but in fact, he admitted that he permitted people to continue informal selling along the coastal road in the city after prosecutors ordered him to remove their stalls. The only political aspect to the case is that such actions are not brought against Frelimo mayors who also tolerate illegal street selling.
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The government would argue that street selling is unsafe and an unauthorised obstruction of public space. Street sellers in many cities and towns fill up the pavements and roadsides along roads where there is the greatest opportunity to capture passing trade. Once those spaces are full, they spill over into the roadway, restricting space for vehicles to travel. The N6 highway going out of the city of Beira towards Zimbabwe is congested in this way, and lorries heading in opposite directions are forced to share the same lane. Street sellers and pedestrians thus have to walk in the road, causing accidents and deaths.
