CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
|
Zimbabwe |
SOCIAL CONDIT.
Pavement bookshops are a feature of Zimbabwe’s towns and cities,
and they
provide a very real need
When Richard Wright wrote: «To survive is a mountain railroad struggle,» he might have been referring to Zimbabwe’s bookshop operators. Behind these pavement bookshops are sullen and ragged faces. People are either hungry or angry. For them business is a hardship. But, as their story reveals, they are eager to win the war against poverty.
The booksellers conducted their business in the open air, sometimes accompanied by a great fanfare. Cars hoot and roar as they pass by, arousing mixed dreams in these book sellers. Perhaps they are imagining that one day they will own one such beautiful car — but it’s wishful thinking — they know they’ll never own one.
Come the cold season, and the booksellers are coughing and spluttering as they conduct their business. The books feel the ravages of the weather as well, but no-one will sympathise with a mere book! Books are there to generate income for the salesperson.
And then comes the rain and the books’ problems are multiplied. Their owners «dress» them with plastic jackets to protect them from the pounding rain, but still they are not removed from the concrete «shelves» i.e. the pavement. You never know. Perhaps one day a customer will come and make a purchase.
Fancy doing little browsing? Well, don’t try in the night when the city is much quieter, because the bookstall spaces are now occupied by vagrants. And during daylight shopping hours, you’ve really got to strain your eyes to see the much faded titles and names of authors.
A typical conversation between a bookseller and a would-be purchaser might go something like this: «Which book do you want dear brother? Something on sociology? Well you won’t get it here. Try across the street».
A bookworm friend of mine once asked me: «Why are those fellows who run pavement bookshops, not invited to the annual Zimbabwe International Book Fair? They have everything worth buying». Obviously my friend doesn’t understand that invitations are not forthcoming to pavement booksellers, because the Fair would lose out. Books would disappear from stands without trace, only to resurface one day on some dirty pavement, under new ownership and with a new price tag.
If you can’t get what you want at these pavement book shops, especially in Harare, don’t despair. You might try to leave an order but this will be expensive especially if the book you want is a «cheapie». Rather, go to Mbare (Zimbabwe’s biggest bus station) just by Machipisa building, because the «mother of all pavement bookshops» exists there. Search high and low throughout Zimbabwe for a needed book, and if you fail to get it anywhere else, try Mbare. You’re sure to get it there. True, the book will not be on a carefully dusted wooden shelf, rather on a very dirty pavement. But Mbare bookstall is never short of customers.
The «scam»
A great deal of stealing goes on in regular bookshops and warehouses, and managers are made to pay for the books which have disappeared. Some workers in these places are really «on the game» — stealing from their employers and then reselling the books to street vendors. A trading pact is made between a brother from the bookshop and a brother at a pavement bookshop, for a give-away price. As money change hands, books also change hands.
And the «scam» doesn’t end there. Popular rumour has it that after buying a book from a pavement bookstall, your purchase might well go missing after one or two weeks. What’s happened? Your friendly bookseller follows up his sale by keeping an eye on you and will eventually track you down and steal the same book from you. If the book has marks you can remember, be very patient, because the chances are you will stumble upon it for sale another time, in another street. If you’re not careful, you may end up buying your own book twice. And there’s no recourse to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe — the country’s watchdog for consumers. This is because street book vendors set up shop and then quickly disappear to another location some distance away, without any advertising. You can appeal to the Law but that’s a sheer waste of energy, as pavement bookshops are not registered with the Deeds Office.
What happens if you purchase the wrong book? If you try to take it back, the same person who was all smiles when he made the initial sale, will tell you where to get off. He’ll even deny any knowledge of you!
In spite of everything, pavement bookshops supply a very real need. With give-away prices, even the less fortunate citizen can afford to read something worthwhile, or at least buy something to sweeten his literary mind.
ENGLISH CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
PeaceLink 2002 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement