Gweru City Council Orders Removal of Livestock, Animal-Drawn Carts From Urban Areas

Gweru City Council issues a 14-day ultimatum for residents to remove livestock and animal-drawn carts from urban areas, citing safety and urban-planning concerns (image source)

Gweru City Council has issued a firm 14-day ultimatum ordering residents to remove all cattle, donkeys and animal-drawn carts from within municipal boundaries, in what officials describe as a long-overdue step to restore order in the city’s suburbs and central business district. The directive, announced through a public notice and amplified across official communication channels, forms part of a broader urban-management push aimed at curbing traffic hazards, property damage and sanitation risks linked to free-roaming livestock.

In its statement, council warned that enforcement would begin immediately, with animals found straying into streets or tied within residential areas liable to impoundment. Municipal officials say the decision follows a high-level meeting of senior local government officers and councillors earlier this month, where the growing visibility of livestock in the city was identified as both a public-safety issue and a symptom of weak by-law compliance.

According to the council, roaming cattle and donkey-drawn carts have contributed to an increase in minor road accidents, clogged intersections and disputes between residents and informal operators. “We cannot maintain a functional, modern urban environment when animals are competing with motorists and pedestrians for space,” one senior official said, stressing that the ultimatum is meant to protect vulnerable road users and reinforce urban planning standards.

The move is not without precedent. For years, municipal authorities have issued periodic warnings to vendors operating donkey-drawn carts, urging them to keep animals out of residential zones amid persistent complaints of noise, litter and road congestion. Past crackdowns, however, have yielded only temporary compliance, with carts and livestock gradually returning to suburbs as enforcement waned.

This time, officials say, the city intends to sustain the effort. The municipality is exploring the creation of a designated equine and livestock compound to accommodate animals removed from urban areas, while offering a regulated space for vendors who rely on animal-drawn transport for waste collection, scrap delivery and small-goods distribution. Council spokespersons say the facility will be developed in consultation with residents, vendors’ associations and other stakeholders to ensure both livelihood protection and orderly urban management.

Local reporting indicates the 14-day deadline is already in effect, with enforcement teams expected to ramp up monitoring in the CBD, Mkoba, Senga, Ivene and other high-traffic suburbs. The mayor’s office has framed the policy as part of a wider urban-renewal agenda, encouraging affected residents to engage city officials early to avoid penalties.

For Gweru, the directive signals a renewed attempt to balance modern planning expectations with the realities of informal urban economies and to assert that livestock no longer has a place inside one of Zimbabwe’s fastest-growing provincial cities.