Zimbabwe’s campaign to restore order in its cities and towns moved into a tougher phase on Thursday, 17 September 2026, with the Government confirming that the removal of vendors and hawkers from undesignated sites will continue indefinitely and that new trading hours now apply to informal traders countrywide.
Back-to-work deadline of 6pm for CBD traders
Under the measures announced in Harare, vending inside all central business districts is now restricted to a 6am to 6pm window, while traders operating in residential areas, including high-density suburbs, may work between 6am and 8pm. The rules took effect immediately across all 92 local authorities, affecting thousands of people who depend on the informal economy for their income.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, Engineer Tafadzwa Muguti, said no vending would be tolerated in business districts after 6pm or in residential communities after 8pm, unless a specific trading licence states otherwise. He explained that the new hours are intended to bring informal trading into line with existing licensing arrangements, which generally limit trading beyond set times.
For Bulawayo, where street trading has become a visible part of the city centre and surrounding high-density suburbs, the change is significant. Traders who have relied on the late-afternoon and early-evening rush, when commuters head home from work, now face a much narrower window in which to earn a living.
Clean-up is ‘not a once-off exercise’
Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe told journalists that the removal of vendors and hawkers from undesignated areas would run alongside the enforcement of building and property regulations. He stressed that the intention was not to prevent people from earning a living, but to ensure that informal economic activity happens lawfully, safely and in an orderly manner.
He directed local authorities to renovate and upgrade existing vending sites so that they are safe and fit for use, and said amended Hawkers and Vendors By-Laws would be published soon, introducing updated licensing and control measures, including rules covering trading sites owned by third parties.
In Harare, particular attention will fall on the Central Business District, especially the downtown area and First Street, which the Minister described as an important commercial gateway that should reflect the image and status of the capital. The clean-up programme, he added, is a long-term undertaking built around restoration, enforcement, rehabilitation and better service delivery rather than a single operation, and it will be extended beyond major urban centres to growth points in rural districts.
Abatement orders target dilapidated buildings
Property owners are also in the firing line. Garwe invoked Section 36, Subsection 4 of the Housing Standards Control Act to direct all local authorities to begin issuing abatement orders against owners and occupiers whose buildings, boundary walls, pavements, yards and surrounding areas are unsafe, unsanitary, dilapidated or otherwise in unacceptable condition.
The directive has immediate effect and covers shopping centres, business complexes, industrial premises, offices, churches and residential properties. Owners will be required to repair, renovate, repaint and clean their premises to bring them up to standard within a period prescribed by law. Non-compliance can attract penalties including a fine up to level five, imprisonment of up to six months, or a bond, depending on the applicable legislation.
Local planning authorities have also been instructed to tighten enforcement against illegal developments and unauthorised building alterations, with enforcement orders to be issued requiring responsible parties to stop or remedy unlawful work.
Livelihoods in the balance
The announcement follows years of on-and-off attempts by central government and municipalities to decongest city centres, regulate informal trading and address concerns about waste management and public spaces. Authorities have long faced a difficult balancing act: street trading is a lifeline for households shut out of formal employment, yet city managers argue that unregulated trading chokes pavements, blocks traffic and undermines public health.
Muguti said the ministry is currently modifying 113 by-laws to align them with the government’s Vision 2030 agenda, and signalled that the National Clean-Up Campaign will soon be rolled out into neighbourhoods across the country. What has not yet been made clear is how the new trading hours will be enforced, or what penalties vendors who trade outside the permitted periods will face.
For now, the message from Government is unambiguous: the clean-up is here to stay, and both traders and property owners are expected to fall in line.
