Unregistered tuckshop owners and vendors in Mbare yesterday started trooping back to prohibited trading sites, two days after being removed by Harare City Council.
On Saturday, Harare City Council, reinforced by soldiers, began demolishing illegal structures in Mbare and Chitungwiza. The council claimed that the traders were not paying levies.
However, a survey carried out by The Herald on Monday showed that the illegal traders were returning to their former trading sites. Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Michael Chideme said:
We urge the vendors to go to designated sites. If there is no space, we urge them to visit our Remembrance offices where we have a fully-fledged division handling that. They will be allocated trading sites from there.
Some of the unregistered traders who spoke to the Herald said:
There is no space to accommodate all of us at the designated sites, so we are appealing to them to provide a bigger space.
… It is a good initiative to allocate space for us at designated sites, though it has affected us as we had already established our clientele here in Mbare.
Related:
-
‘Murambatsvina’ To Continue Until Order Is Restored In Urban Areas – Harare City Council Spokesperson
-
We Are Just Acting On A Govt Directive: Councils Speak On Demolition Of Illegal Tuckshops
-
Soldiers Deployed In Chitungwiza And Mbare To Oversee ‘Operation Murambatsvina’