24 Zimbabwe: No justice for the victims of forced evictions adequate housing in Zimbabwe and in particular to identify and provide for those in most urgent need, particularly those who are in an extremely vulnerable situation as a result of the human rights violations of Operation Murambatsvina. Vendors – the right to gain a living through work “The wrecking of the informal sector by Operation [Murambatsvina] will have detrimental effects at a time that the economy remains in serious difficulties.” UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, July 2005 Formal unemployment in Zimbabwe is estimated to be approximately 80 per cent. For the majority of people the informal sector is the only source of employment and livelihood. In Zimbabwe prior to Operation Murambatsvina thousands of people operated within the regulated informal sector (meaning they were licensed and/or operated from designated selling points). Thousands more, however, operated outside the regulated system, selling fruits, vegetables and other goods and making items such as crafts on the street. By 2004, the informal economy was estimated to account for 40 per cent of all forms of employment and had effectively become the mainstay for the majority of the urban population.67 Operation Murambatsvina involved the destruction of small and micro businesses across the country, primarily those of informal vendors and traders. According to official government figures given to the UN Special Envoy in July 2005 the structures of 32,538 small, micro and medium-size enterprises were demolished. The UN Special Envoy calculated that this figure translated into 97,614 persons having lost their primary source of livelihood. Despite the government’s assertion that Operation Murambatsvina was targeting those operating illegally and those involved in criminal activity such as foreign exchange dealing, vendors, market places and small business areas across the country were targeted indiscriminately. In almost all urban areas targeted by Operation Murambatsvina licensed traders were arrested and had their goods confiscated or destroyed and legal vending sites were demolished.68 The majority of those affected by the government’s indiscriminate clampdown on the informal sector were poor women. One organisation providing credit to micro-businesses, including many of those engaged in street vending and trading, described the impact: “Our business has totally changed. We do not work with the poorest anymore. They are gone. 85 per cent of our clients were poor women, and they have been driven out of business by Operation Murambatsvina.” 67 Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina by the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe, 22 July 2005, p 24. 68 The fact that vendors and other informal workers who had licences and paid fees to local authorities were indiscriminately targeted during Operation Murambatsvina was confirmed to Amnesty International by city officials in Bulawayo, Gwanda and Masvingo. On 2 August 2005 the High Court in Bulawayo ruled in favour of the Bulawayo Upcoming Traders Association, finding that street vendors’ stalls had been destroyed indiscriminately and that many street vendors had permits to trade. Amnesty International 8 September 2006 AI Index: AFR 46/005/2006