Zimbabwe has taken steps to ban the sale of used clothing due to hazards to national security and drug smuggling.
Bulawayo City administration and Council members were informed by Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe that the action is intended to combat criminal operations that use the trade as a front for drug trafficking.
Bales of imported worn garments, he claimed, have been discovered to contain drugs and even bed bugs, presenting a security and health danger.
The dwindling of Zimbabwe’s local cotton industry, which has resulted in thousands of job losses and the closure of production logistics in Bulawayo, was attributed by Minister Garwe to the import of used clothing.
He warned that certain traders aid in substance abuse issues in some localities by moving around a lot to avoid detection and referred to them as ‘slippery operators’.
Garwe stressed that the government will take strong measures against anyone utilizing the trade to spread narcotics, even if he recognized the economic importance of honest merchants.
The ban now covers night vending nationwide after the Minister of Industry and Commerce banned the import of used garments in October 2024.
