Councils will continue demolishing illegal structures across towns and cities after they were given the green light to do so by the government, The Herald reports. This was after residents and some informal traders unions approached the court in a bid to stop the local government from demolishing illegal structures.
A circular seen by the publication addressed to all councils and town clerks read in part:
The court in its final determination ordered that the Circular Minute Number 3 of 2020 is legal and the clean-ups and renovations of Small and Medium Enterprises and informal traders’ workspaces by local authorities should proceed
However, residents that took the local government to court raised a red flag against the circular and said:
The circular is misleading. The court order never said the circular was lawful. The lawfulness of the circular has not yet been decided. We got a consent order stopping the demolitions as they are un-procedural so as residents we stick to that
Councils were directed by the local government to take advantage of the lockdown and destroy all roadside vending stalls and illegal structures.
More: The Herald