…as security forces patrol
TAURAI MANGUDHLA
I t is almost sunset on a Sunday in one of Harare’s oldest high density suburbs, Mbare.
Like any other Sunday, children are playing on the streets while the youth sit anywhere they can, talking and sharing a beer except they are all on high alert.
This is no ordinary Sunday, but it is day seven into the 21-day national lockdown that was announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa effective March 30 to combat the spreading of coronavirus.
The young and old along Seventh Street in Mbare’s National area are not under the illusion that gatherings or playing in the streets is allowed under the lockdown.
This is the same on Sixth and Mhlanga streets.
They know what it means if one is caught by the police or the army violating the lockdown order.
Loud music is blurring, all over, but a deafening silence comes abruptly. Radios are switched off, the sound of children’s voices shouting also dies immediately.
A few seconds later, a Toyota Hilux and a Mazda T35 trucks could be heard rumbling on the dusty streets.
The T35 is carrying about 20 soldiers while the Hilux has half that number. Tuck shops are closed and tables displaying vegetables which are on sale in front of a number of gates also vanish.
Everyone is playing dead as the two vehicles pass and for at least another three more minutes.
The brave ones find ways to peep through their pre-cast walls or windows.
Outside the residential areas, on roads connecting the suburb to Harare city centre or neighbouring Waterfalls for instance, movement is minimal as one is more likely to bump into the police patrol units.
Memories of a 2019 mass action against fuel hikes that turned nasty in the high density suburbs reminds the Mbare residents what is good for them.
They cannot afford an encounter with the police or soldiers at whatever cost, because they lost their neighbours in the 2019 stay away.
“Memories of one of our colleagues who was shot dead on the corner of Seventh Street as you approach the bus terminus are still very fresh.
He was going to buy bread at the tuckshop, but that same day, there was a funeral at his house,” said an elderly woman who requested not to be named.
Videos of police assaulting civilians who are found wanting are not helping. The fear is real and no one is taking chances.
While residents know they are free to sit in their yards, they prefer to lock their doors and be out of sight each time the police patrol passes.
Shebeens in the area are also operating, expect they are now selling on a take-away basis. In cases where customers are too scared, unlicensed liquor dealers are delivering to their clients, for an extra fee.
Business is booming for these unscrupulous traders given that shops are open between 9am and 3pm. The illegal liquor dealers have become the go-to guys whenever residents run out of alcohol outside the retail shopping hours as nightclubs and bottle stores are not operating.
The situation is almost similar in Kuwadzana 1.
Three days into the lockdown, people were scattered all over Areno Shopping centre, drinking alcohol. Never-mind the frequent police patrols in the residential area, vendors had stocked beer instead of vegetables that have been in short supply since the lockdown as farmers have been unable to deliver their fresh produce to Mbare Musika.
On the day, a unit of Chibuku Super which is officially selling at ZWL$24 was going for double the amount or US$1.
Maize meal, cooling oil and bread were also available. On the other side of town in the Borrowdale and Mt Pleasant areas, movement was minimal in the first days of the lockdown due to heavy police presence and some residents alleged they were barred from going to the shops.
By Friday, they had to leave their homes to restock. Whether or not the compliance is voluntary, it appears fear has been the biggest weapon forcing people to comply.
However, a number have also found ways to go about their business avoiding the roadblocks and high risk areas.
For some, it has been a question of deciding to take their chances with Covid-19 or starvation. Even the jail threats and fines haven’t done enough to deter them.
“I can’t afford to spend 21 days without working.
I do landscaping for a lot of people in Borrowdale so I must travel from Kuwadzana on my bicycle whenever I have a contract.
I have just been avoiding the roadblocks because my children need to eat,” said Gilbert Muneta.
Ashley Matanhire, a hair dresser said she has been limited to clients who stay in Budiriro because of the roadblocks and police patrols.
“If this goes on for another week, I will take my chances with the police because I can’t even raise money for rentals and we are seven days into April.
“I don’t know what I am going to eat because most of the clients who can pay real money are in Borrowdale and Vainona,” she said.
Compliance is becoming difficult with each day. Despite the 10 cases recorded in the country as of Tuesday and one death, the virus is still something alien or at least foreign to many in Harare, at least.
About 1.35 million cases of the virus have been reported globally with 74,000 deaths. Government is beginning to relax terms of the lockdown including allowing money transfer agents to operate.
Mbare Musika reopened on Tuesday.
