Lawyer and former opposition legislator Fadzayi Mahere has renewed her criticism of the ZANU PF-led Government over its crackdown on street vendors, likening the ongoing Operation Chenesa Harare Final to Operation Murambatsvina carried out under the late former President Robert Mugabe.
Posting on social media on Thursday, Mahere said the government was targeting the poor without providing an alternative to vending.
“Under Mugabe, they unleashed Operation Murambatsvina. Today, they’re unleashing Operation Chenesa,” she wrote.
“It’s always the same anti-people, anti-poor, anti-progress policies. Do you think anybody chooses to be a vendor?
“If this economy was conducive to job creation and one could get formal employment, do you think anybody would choose to sell bananas or plastic shoes on the side of the road?
“In other countries, the poor get social grants. In this country, the poor who are trying to make an honest living get swept off the street like dirt.”
Mahere’s remarks come as the Government has intensified enforcement in Harare and other urban centres and imposed new operating hours for legally registered vendors.
The Government, through the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, is carrying out Operation Chenesa Harare Final, a joint operation with the City of Harare to remove illegal vendors from the central business district and undesignated sites in high-density suburbs.
The operation followed a seven-day ultimatum for vendors to vacate undesignated areas.
As part of the measures, Permanent Secretary Tafadzwa Muguti announced on Thursday that vending hours are now limited countrywide with immediate effect.
Under the new directive, vending in all central business districts across the country’s 92 local authorities is limited to between 6 am and 6 pm.
Vending in residential communities, including high-density suburbs, is permitted between 6 am and 8 pm.
No vending is allowed in CBDs after 6 pm and none in residential areas after 8 pm, even for traders operating in designated sites.
Operation Murambatsvina — Shona for Drive Out Rubbish — was launched in May 2005 under the Mugabe administration.
The government at the time said it was aimed at restoring order, curbing illegal trading and illegal structures in urban areas.
In practice, police and municipal authorities demolished thousands of informal homes, market stalls and vending sites in Harare, Bulawayo and other towns.
A United Nations special report led by Anna Tibaijuka estimated that some 700,000 people lost their homes or livelihoods directly, with a further 2.4 million affected indirectly.
The operation drew widespread international condemnation from human rights groups and the UN, which said it had caused a humanitarian crisis.
The government denied that it was anti-poor, saying it was enforcing planning laws.
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