By Tanaka Murangi
THE aftermath of the global Covid-19 pandemic has had terrible economic impacts on many Norton residents.
In an effort to eradicate the virus, tuckshops and other informal marketplaces were demolished during the Covid-19 era, which left the majority of the residents without jobs and unable to support their livelihoods. One resident, who once owned a tuckshop at her residence, but was demolished by the authorities during the Covid-19 period, said her life is now a nightmare following the demolition some three years ago.
“I do not blame the council for trying, by all means, to protect us in a time of panic and fear for which no one had a solution. However, the demolition of my tuckshop is something I could not recover financially from, hence, life has become more challenging for me as I no longer have anything else to depend on except the grace of God,” she said.
Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, there was high unemployment and poverty in Norton due to the closure of most industries in the town. Hunyani Mill closed in 2009 and although its closure is now more than a decade ago, the impact is still being felt to this day.
Another local resident confirmed that during the time of its operation, Hunyani Mill was the backbone of Norton’s economy, not only in providing employment, but ploughing back into the local community.
“It managed a soccer field where people would go and enjoy the game of football on weekends, playing grounds for children, its workers were well taken care of… they were given bicycles to use as transport to come to work and some of them were offered homes nearby,” he said.
“I remember as a youth coming all the way from Katanga to Tankatara just to play all day long as Hunyani also had a recreational leisure centre and a club downstream where we would go and watch soccer.”
Norton’s de-industrialisation has resulted in the collapse of the town’s economy, loss of formal livelihood opportunities and increasing urban poverty, leading to the rise of the informal economy in Norton. Further findings showed that key industries collapsed, leading to massive job losses and job-related benefits, thus reduced service delivery capacity, resulting in poor water and sanitation services while most houses in the high density suburbs are now dilapidated due to lack of repairs.
To survive and overcome unemployment and poverty challenges, many local women are now into prostitution. This is witnessed mainly in Katanga and the famous place is “Koshen Ground”.
Unemployment has also acted as the driving force for drug and substance abuse among many youths who have no source of income.
The most notable innovation to escape poverty and unemployment in Norton is the famous hustle of selling fish from the nearby Lake Chivero.Another side hustle for most unemployed residents is firewood poaching. Some men go to nearby farms to poach for firewood to sell and find some money to fend for their families.