By Staff Reporter
TENS of thousands of informal workers across Harare woke up without an income today as local authorities and central government launched a round-the-clock law enforcement sweep to permanently dismantle street trading across the Central Business District.
The escalation under “Operation Chenesa Harare” introduces 24-hour, 7-day-a-week police patrols designed to clear vendors, stalls, and pushcarts from unauthorized pavements and public spaces. In an economy where informal work represents the vast majority of all active employment, the continuous mandate is set to cut off the primary economic lifeline for 80 percent of the urban workforce.
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume confirmed that municipal police forces are abandoning standard day shifts to eliminate the evening window where vendors typically trade.
“We have noticed that there is a lacuna where our police officers are finishing their work at 5 pm,” Mafume said, adding that continuous 24-hour patrols are now being instituted to enforce total municipal compliance.
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Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe reinforced the zero-tolerance stance, barring pushcarts and street sales of fruit, apparel, and general merchandise from major city arteries. Garwe insisted the drive is part of a permanent national agenda toward urban order rather than a temporary clean-up effort.
“No to selling mangoes, oranges, clothes or shoes. No to plying in the central business district. And no to pushcarts in the central business district,” Garwe stated. “This is the life that we must now be accustomed to—of cleanliness, of orderliness, of reorganising.”
While government officials instructed displaced workers to relocate to designated municipal markets, informal labor organizations counter that official stalls are severely limited, geographically isolated, and lack foot traffic. Representatives from vendor advocacy groups warn that forcing traders away from high-density transit zones leaves families without the daily cash revenue required for basic survival, food, and rent.
With no formal job expansion to absorb the displaced labor force, the 24-hour security deployment has effectively frozen the city’s largest economic engine, plunging thousands of working families into immediate financial crisis
