The success of Operation Chenesa Harare will ultimately depend not only on enforcement, but also on whether designated markets can provide traders with accessible, viable, and properly serviced alternatives.

Despite a strict warning from municipal authorities to vacate street pavements by September 9, informal traders in Harare’s Central Business District (CBD) remain unfazed, setting up stall spaces as usual and vowing to resist relocation.

Government has defended its September 9 deadline for vendors operating from undesignated sites, saying informal trading must be balanced with public health, safety and orderly cities.

Thousands of informal traders operating outside designated marketplaces in Harare have until September 9 to relocate before a government enforcement operation begins.

Bulawayo Ward 1 councillor Josiah Mutangi has been removed from office after an independent tribunal found him guilty of misconduct following his fraud conviction over the illegal allocation of vending bays.