General

Street sellers on the move.

20 Feb, 2006

Unlicensed street sellers are once again the target of the Maputo authorities in a new bid to clean up the capital. As of 14 February, representatives of the city council, health authorities, police, womens affairs ministry and the confederation of Mozambican business associations have been touring Maputo in an attempt to persuade street vendors to transfer to one of the municipal markets located around town. The task forces are also taking the opportunity to conduct a census of informal traders; by 16 February they had already counted over 1,140, according to the Mozambican news agency AIM. The street sellers are largely concentrated in the commercial Baixa area. Operao Espelho (Operation Mirror), as the operation is called, follows a similar effort last year, which came to nothing after local police came under fire for misbehaviour. Many street sellers who had been moved subsequently reoccupied public space.