BULAWAYO – Thousands of people turned up Monday to apply for the 350 casual jobs on offer by the constructors of the $60 million Egodini Mall in Bulawayo.

The project developer, Tearracota, last Friday launched the Contact Centre on Lobengula Street and 8th Avenue Extension, with an invitation for job seekers to come and obtain application forms on Monday.

By 9AM, thousands of people had turned up looking for jobs as plumbers, builders, pavers and manual labourers.

Police on foot and on horseback battled to keep order as crowds swelled with queues stretching for kilometres.

The queues eventually collapsed with thousands of people, mainly youths, rushing forward to secure application forms. Police ordered the organisers to suspend the process.

Tearracota director Thulani Moyo said: “So many people came, more than we had prepared for. We just need about 400 people for the first phase but so far close to 8,000 people have gathered here.”

Tearracota and the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) did not appear to have prepared for the deluge – a window into Zimbabwe’s jobless crisis.

Criticism of the handling of the job application process was quick in coming.

Bulawayo resident Robert Ndlovu said the application process could have been done online, as he accused the project managers of “overplaying” the recruitment exercise.

“A big announcement was made about employment and people came for the 350 slots. The Egodini employment was overplayed thanks to the grand opening of the Contact Center,” he said on Twitter.

The BCC, in response, insisted the crowds had been anticipated – but the security measures had failed.

“This system was put in place after extensive stakeholder consultation. The crowds were anticipated. The challenge has been people are failing to queue orderly, collect the forms and resubmit at a later date. The submission of forms for registration is going on until Friday, November 30, 2018,” the BCC said on Twitter.

The BCC blamed “a few unruly elements jumping the queues and forcefully taking forms for those who had been given”, adding: “If people had adhered to the queues the large numbers of people would all have been attended to today.”

Some enterprising youths scanned the application forms and were selling them for $0.50 to those who failed to obtain them.

The first phase of the mall, mainly the construction of the shops, is expected to be completed in November next year.