Illegal Vendors Given 7 Day Ultimatum to Vacate Streets

Harare – The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works has issued a warning to illegal vendors operating in undesignated areas, announcing a zero-tolerance clean-up operation set to begin on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, starting in Harare before rolling out nationwide.

In a press statement dated 2 September 2026, Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Honourable Daniel Garwe expressed concern over the continuous proliferation of illegal vending and informal trading at undesignated spots within the Central Business District and the greater Harare Metropolitan Province.

“This rampant malpractice has severely compromised urban sanitation, blocked public pathways, disrupted law-abiding formal businesses, and created artificial congestion that undermines public safety and health regulations across our capital city,” Hon. Garwe said.

The Ministry acknowledged informal trading as a recognised avenue of livelihood but insisted it must occur within Municipal by-laws and at legally designated marketplaces.

The authority said the current state of disorderliness on the streets was intolerable, with illegal vendors said to pose a threat to the health and security of the nation, including facilitating drug and substance abuse.

After the 9th, the Ministry, working with other government departments and agencies, said will launch a clean-up operation targeting all illegal vending sites across Harare and the broader metropolitan province.

Hon. Garwe said all illegal vending structures, stalls and sites will be completely dismantled and Municipal police will remain deployed to prevent re-occupation of cleared areas.

The operation will subsequently extend systematically to all other cities, towns and urban settlements nationwide to restore public order, cleanliness and trafficability, the Ministry said, in line with National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) and Vision 2030 aspirations.

Local authorities have been instructed to facilitate the immediate registration and orderly placement of compliant traders into designated structures.

Informal traders were urged to comply voluntarily to avoid loss of merchandise.

“The Government remains committed to fostering a sustainable, orderly, clean and safe macroeconomic environment.

"All citizens and stakeholders are expected to cooperate fully with law enforcement agencies during this necessary exercise,” Minister Garwe said.

The announcement has drawn sharp criticism from Gweru United Progressive Resudents And Ratepayers Development Association (GUPRARDA) Director, Pastor David Chikore, who questioned the definition of an “illegal vendor” and accused the State of failing in its constitutional obligations.

Pastor Chikore asked whether selling from undesignated and unauthorised points automatically labels someone an illegal vendor.

He argued that the Zimbabwean Constitution places the responsibility of providing safe working spaces for citizens in occupations of their choice on the State and its agencies.

“The same State and its agencies having failed to sufficiently and satisfactorily satisfy the requirement of providing the requisite safe working space for the ever-ballooning vendor population, a product of an underperforming economy, now [the] State seeks to hide its ineptitude by hounding innocent and defenceless vendors who are striving to eke out an honest living off the streets,” he said.

While acknowledging that most vendors are not paying council rates or taxes, Pastor Chikore suggested this stemmed from reluctance by local authorities to bill and regularise their operations, which would enable the collection of presumptive tax.

He challenged the Minister to issue directives addressing the root causes driving people into vending with the same force applied to the clean-up order.

Pastor Chikore said instead of tackling unemployment through job-creating initiatives such as capacitating existing businesses, state-funded infrastructure projects including road and dam construction, and low-cost housing, the State was targeting “the softer, weaker, voiceless and defenceless target, the innocent vendor.”

“Where is our soul as a people?” Pastor Chikore asked, however conceding that there is need for order, cleanliness and protection of licensed formal businesses that pay rates and taxes, but insisted the voiceless and vulnerable, forced into vending by circumstances beyond their control, also deserved protection.

“Are we not hiding our failures by suppressing the fruits of our failings? Can’t we do better by instead investing our mental faculties in identifying pathways which create a win-win situation for all?” He said 

The clean-up operation, though not the first to be announced, is expected to commence amid ongoing debates over balancing urban order with the livelihoods of informal traders.