The High Court on Wednesday ruled that the on-going demolition of structures used by informal traders in greater Harare is illegal.
BY STAFF REPORTER
Local authorities across the country have been demolishing vending stalls and tuck-shops following an instruction from Local Government minister July Moyo, who said it was meant to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Informal traders represented by the Chitungwiza Residents Trust and Kushinga Epworth Residents Association approached the Harare High Court to “interdict local authorities and central government from demolishing any tuck-shops and vending stalls.”
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, which represented the groups in court, said they believed “this ban should serve as a warning to the rest of all councils that demolitions will have repercussions on them.”
Aggrieved informal traders and residents argued in court that Moyo’s circular instructing local authorities to carry out the demolitions was unlawful.
They said there was no law that required local authorities to execute Cabinet resolutions outside the provisions of the applicable laws.
Some of the affected informal traders have been paying fees and rates to local authorities for their tuck-shops and stalls and they argued this was an acknowledgement that their operations were lawful.
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In 2005, the government carried out similar demolitions under the infamous Operation Murambatsvina, which also targeted residential areas.
The demolitions directly affected 700 000 people across the country led to international condemnation of former president Robert Mugabe’s government
