‘Cat and mouse game’: Zimbabwe gov’t workers moonlight as street vendors

Harare, Zimbabwe – Every morning, Dumisani Ngara* gets up at dawn to catch a 6:30am bus to work at Zimbabwe’s Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities. The government-provided bus is free for civil servants in Harare, and on his $250 monthly salary, he tries to save every cent he can.

Once at work, Ngara – dressed neatly in a suit and tie – makes sure the day’s files are all in order before the office opens at 8:30am. In between paperwork and meetings, he takes breaks. At 1pm, he opens a lunchbox packed with rice and meat he prepared at home.

“Most of us here, we work to the best of our ability. It is a profession I love. It comes also with job security,” said the 48-year-old husband and father of three.

But by 5pm, as the end of the workday arrives, instead of heading home, Ngara rushes to a restroom in the pub across the street, where he changes into sweatpants and a T-shirt before walking four blocks to join his oldest son at a pavement stall in the city centre. From there, they sell groceries to passers-by.

Ngara’s side hustle is a secret, as Zimbabwean government workers are restricted from holding other jobs. But he says life is tough on a single-source income.

Ngara has been a government worker since 2010, but making ends meet has been especially difficult since 2019, when inflation shot up to 300 percent and the value of his salary eroded.

To afford rent and other expenses, his family had to make a plan.

“My wife is into vending of fruits and vegetables at home while I do the same after work here in the CBD,” Ngara said, referring to the central business district.

‘Salaries are pathetic’

The Ngaras are not alone.

Out on Harare’s streets, a growing number of civil servants are turning to vending once their official workday ends.