The Harare City Council on Saturday demolished tuckshops at Mabelreign Shopping Centre, saying the structures had been erected without approved plans and on land reserved for parking.
The tuckshops were reportedly built by Ward 16 Councillor Denford Ngadziore without following proper procedures.
Council bulldozers moved in early Saturday, flattening the near-complete structures and leaving piles of rubble at the site.
Mayor Councillor Jacob Mafume told The Herald that the demolition formed part of efforts to restore order and modernise the city’s shopping centres.
“The reason why they were demolished is that there were no approved plans for the tuck-shops, it was on a place designated as a car park, and they were aesthetically not in keeping with a modern city in that part of town,” said Mafume.
Mayor Jacob Mafume said Harare’s shopping centres need renewal and proper urban planning, not makeshift developments that undermine property values.
His remarks follow the leak of Report No. 169 DHCS 2026, prepared by the Department of Housing and Community Services on 26 January 2026, which outlines a proposal for a “temporary modern mixed‑use market facility” at Mabelreign Shopping Centre as a donation to the council.
Responding to claims that the project had been approved by senior council officials, Mafume stressed that only preliminary approval had been granted.
Said Mafume: “What was approved was a desire to enter into a partnership. However, once such approvals happen in the SME committee, those approvals have to go to the planning committee, which will then look at the desirability of the place, what needs to be done to make the place a market, to build brick-and-mortar buildings.”
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