Spiraling inflation pushes Zimbabwean civil servants into hidden street-vending side hustles to supplement shrinking salaries.
For Zimbabwean civil servant Dumisani Ngara, every workday is a delicate balancing act—a “cat and mouse game” between the professional dignity of his government office job and the secret necessity of street vending to survive.
Each morning, Ngara boards a free government bus to his office at the Ministry of National Housing in Harare, impeccably dressed in a suit. His monthly government salary of $250 is barely enough to sustain his family amid Zimbabwe’s relentless inflation, which surged to a staggering 300% in 2019, crippling salaries and purchasing power.
By evening, Ngara swiftly exchanges his suit for sweatpants and rushes to join his son at a makeshift street stall in Harare’s bustling central business district. There, hidden in plain sight, they sell groceries to supplement the family income. His wife runs a similar stall at home, selling fruit and vegetables.
Ngara’s story reveals the stark reality for thousands of Zimbabwe’s government workers, prohibited by law from holding second jobs yet forced into secret vending just to pay rent and put food on the table.
“Our salaries are pathetic,” he explains, echoing a sentiment shared widely among Zimbabwe’s civil servants. As inflation soars and government pay stagnates, moonlighting has become a matter of survival rather than choice.
Zimbabwe’s economy remains unstable, and for workers like Ngara, life has become an exhausting cycle of hiding their side hustles from the authorities while struggling to preserve their dignity amid growing desperation.
