Linda Chinobva, GPJ Zimbabwe
Jimmy Mabiza (center), 64, describes his different tobacco offerings to some customers outside of his home in Makokoba, Zimbabwe.
BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE — In this city’s oldest suburb, Makokoba, piles of carefully packaged tobacco sit for sale in front of many homes.
Jimmy Mabiza, 64, has made his living as an informal tobacco trader here since 1990, when he took up the business as a second job to supplement his full-time work as a truck driver. But the company he drove for went out of business in 2009, so the tobacco trade became his main source of income.
While much of the country struggles with joblessness and an ongoing cash crisis, Mabiza says tobacco is still good business, but things are changing. Increased scrutiny from police about health warnings and greater competition from other local sellers mean that profits are inconsistent from month to month.
Mabiza buys unrefined tobacco in bulk, in 1-pound to 11-pound bags, from the capital Harare. He puts the tobacco through a sieve to get a fine dust powder and then packages it into small sachets that sell for 10 cents each, or 10 for $1.
During a good month, he sells about $80 worth of tobacco. In a bad month, he might earn as little as $20.
The volume of Zimbabwe’s tobacco exports grew by 12 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board’s 2015 annual report. China is the country’s main importer of tobacco, with more than 61 million kilograms (133 million pounds) received in 2015.
The crop is popular within Zimbabwe, too. Many smoke it, and an increasing number of Makokoba residents sell it, as well. But many informal sellers don’t follow a law that requires all tobacco sellers to display health warnings on their products.
Section 7 of Statutory Instrument 264 of the 2002 Public Health Regulations says: “No person shall sell or distribute any tobacco or tobacco products to any person except in a container on which is prominently displayed the messages — ‘Smoking is harmful to health,’ ‘Smoking causes cancer’ and ‘Tobacco is addictive,’ depending on the type of product.”
The regulations are ignored by some tobacco sellers, especially those who package their own tobacco in bulk, like Mabiza. The clear plastic they use to wrap their tobacco does not have any warnings. In past years this violation has gone unnoticed, but in recent months police have been conducting raids on the tobacco sellers in Makokoba, confiscating the tobacco and forcing offending sellers to pay $5 fines.
In 2016 the informal traders appealed to the Bulawayo City Council to stop the raids, saying confiscating their tobacco left them with none to sell. In a cash-strapped economy where jobs are scarce, losing their product means losing any hopes of monthly income.
“Selling tobacco sustains us, because we are failing to find employment in Zimbabwe. So these raids must stop,” says Nokuthula Tshuma, 50, an informal tobacco trader.
Thomas Mikazhu, 33, another seller, says the ongoing raids are cutting into his profit margins.
Sellers say they are working to find a professional organization to help them print warning labels, because they don’t have the resources to do it themselves.
“It is really straining our business, considering that we do not generate much money from this tobacco,” Mikazhu says.
Makokoba council member James Sithole says informal tobacco selling became so common over the last several decades that residents and sellers came to accept it without health warnings, regardless of the legal change in 2002.
Sithole says he is trying to lobby local authorities in favor of the informal traders.
Informal trader Buhle Hindoga, 23, says sales are shrinking regardless of the raids, because the competition to sell tobacco in the suburb is fierce.
“Many of the residents of Makokoba are now selling tobacco, and this has become a challenge, because this has resulted in competition. We are not making much money. It is now a situation of hand-to-mouth,” she says.
Still, given the country’s unstable economy, Hindoga says she is grateful for even meager sales.
“Although we are not generating much money, we are grateful for the few dollars we are generating,” she says. “It is better than nothing.”
Linda Chinobva, GPJ, translated some interviews from isiNdebele.
