Former Mt Pleasant Member of Parliament, Fadzayi Mahere, has castigated the government’s directive for vendors to vacate undesignated sites by 9 September 2026, saying the State is punishing citizens for poverty it created.
Her remarks come after the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Daniel Garwe, on 2 September issued a “stern and final warning” to all vendors operating at sites not authorised by local authorities.
In the statement, Garwe said all vendors involved in illegal street and night trading had until Wednesday, September 9, 2026, to immediately vacate unauthorised sites and relocate to lawful, designated vending markets provided by the local authority.
From 9 September, the Ministry and other Ministries, Departments and Agencies will launch a “comprehensive, zero-tolerance clean-up operation targeting illegal vending sites across Harare and the broader Harare Metropolitan Province”.
Garwe said all illegal structures would be dismantled, while municipal police would be deployed to prevent traders from reoccupying the cleared areas.
The government says the operation, which will begin in Harare and Greater Harare before being rolled out to other urban areas, is intended to restore order, improve sanitation, clear pedestrian pathways and ease congestion.
But Mahere, writing on social media on Sunday, said the order showed a government out of touch with the reality of ordinary Zimbabweans.
“They manufacture poverty through their looting, corruption and incompetence, then punish the people for the chaotic mess that they’ve created,” she wrote.
“In a normal country, factories thrive, farms flourish, people work decent jobs for decent pay and the poor get social grants. Not in Zimbabwe.”
Mahere argued that vending on the streets was not a choice but a survival strategy in a collapsed formal economy.
“Here, the people are alone, so they make a plan. They hustle hard. When they fend for themselves, the same Govt that impoverished them turns around and says they’re dirty and their vending stalls must be destroyed. When the country was properly governed, people worked and made a living through organised channels. Life was neat and tidy.”
“If everything were equal, nobody would be on the streets selling wares and food. Nobody wants to be setting up a random stall to put food on the table and send kids to school. Everyone wants dignity and value for their work. If the ecosystem allowed, people would be working in their designated spaces. But that designation has been wholly eroded. That’s why so many swim across crocodile-infested rivers and endure hostile environments so they can make a living.”
The former MP drew parallels with the controversial 2005 Operation Murambatsvina, which left hundreds of thousands displaced after the government demolished informal structures and vending stalls.
“As if we do not have enough tragedy around us, Operation Murambatsvina is about to be unleashed. They’ve decided to declare war on the poor yet again. If your heart doesn’t break, you’re not paying attention.”
“I repeat, ZANU PF is anti-poor, anti-people and anti-progress. It’s a mess,” she said.
The government directive has triggered mixed reactions. While authorities insist all vendors involved in illegal street and night trading must leave unauthorised sites and relocate to lawful markets, vendor associations and human rights groups have warned that thousands of families who depend on informal trading risk losing their livelihoods.
Garwe said vendors trading outside designated markets must vacate voluntarily before the clean-up begins in Harare, but traders in the capital have vowed to defy the order due to a lack of adequate designated space and high rentals in formal markets.
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