HUNDREDS of informal traders operating at Mbare Musika are at the risk of losing their source of livelihood after some Zanu PF supporters barred them from their trading stalls last week.
The vendors appeared to have caused offence by selling pirated DVD copies of a British television series which is deemed unacceptable by the ruling party zealots.
The Zanu PF supporters nearly brought business at the market to a halt after they discovered that one of the vendors was selling an episode of a DVD entitled Strike Back, a British drama that has the attempted elimination of President Robert Mugabe as its plot.
The activists were reportedly incensed after traders refused to endorse some form of punishment on a vendor only identified as Mike who was selling one of the DVD episodes.
Incensed, the activists suspended operations on all market stalls where vendors trade DVDs and music discs while those who sell agricultural produce and other wares such as electrical gadgets were allowed to continue operating unhindered.
The affected traders were barred from accessing their market stalls with some summoned to the Zanu PF district offices where they were subjected to a vetting process presided over by the party’s district chairperson only identified as Muchenje.
The vetting was said to have been aimed at ascertaining their support and loyalty to the ruling party before they could be allowed to return to their trading spots.
Based on a book of the same title by novelist and former Special Air Service (SAS) soldier, Chris Ryan, Strike Back is a British action and military television series.
The series follows the actions of a secretive branch of the British Defence Intelligence Service (DI), which executes several high risk and priority missions throughout the globe.
It also depicts a sniper attempting to assassinate the President of Zimbabwe.
In 2011, some Masvingo Polytechnic College students were arrested for watching the movie and were charged with undermining the authority of or insulting the President.
State prosecutors claimed that the students were likely to engender feelings of hostility, hatred and ridicule or contempt towards the Zanu PF leader.
Last Monday, Zanu PF supporters blocked more than a thousand informal traders from conducting business at the Glen View home industries for allegedly snubbing the burial of national hero Stanley Sakupwanya a day earlier.