Namibia photo exhibit highlights need for free movement

A photo exhibition on cross-border traders in Southern Africa has put the spotlight on the need for the free movement of goods and peoples in the region – writes Munyaradzi Makoni.

“We wanted to show the role the sector plays in uplifting communities from poverty, and employment creation, yet the traders are affected by many of the structural deficiencies,” the Rev. Malcolm Damon, director of the Economic Justice Network, a grouping of Christian Councils in Southern Africa, told ENInews recently.

Damon, a Methodist cleric, said they gave the traders from Malawi, Tanzania, Swaziland and Mozambique cameras to take photos and tell their own story in a unique way.

The photo exhibition, showing trading scenes within the 14-member Southern Africa Development Community, was launched during the 13-15 August 6th Civil Society Forum in Namibia. The traders captured pictures reflecting poor transport networks, street level bureaucracy, the confiscation of goods, xenophobia, high tariffs, corruption, sexual harassment, and delays at border posts.

Focusing especially on marginalised women, the exhibition, held in a Roman Catholic Church hall in Namibia, ran alongside the 30th SADC (Southern African Development Community) heads of states meeting.

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