News / National
Harare vendors live in fear as Municipal police crackdowns intensify
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The sudden silence before chaos is the hallmark of Harare's latest crackdown on informal street vendors. Municipal police, some in plainclothes, others in uniform, move swiftly and silently through crowded streets. When they strike, panic erupts. Vendors scatter, trampling goods in desperate attempts to save what they can, while others are arrested and their merchandise seized.
"They have no mercy at all. Once they take your stock, you'll never get it back," says Saul Nhema, an informal vegetable vendor who began selling after losing his construction job three months ago.
On the day of this interview, vendors along Park Street in Harare's central business district faced two raids by municipal police. Mid-interview, Nhema grabbed his stock and fled as officers approached again.
For years, the Harare City Council has launched aggressive operations against informal vendors, often destroying goods and deploying large police forces to enforce city by-laws that prohibit vending in unauthorized areas. The council cites concerns over littering, illegal vending, and public health risks as justification.
However, critics question the necessity and cost of these crackdowns, especially as the city struggles to provide basic services like clean water.
In 2024, Harare City Council's total revenue was around US$3 million. Yet the cost of policing informal vendors exceeded US$24 million - eight times the city's income. In 2025, the council established a specialised police unit to further target vendors, raising enforcement costs to nearly 12 times its revenue, which is projected to drop to just US$2 million this year. The financial burden is increasingly being borne by the central government.
Repeated requests for comment from the mayor went unanswered.
Reuben Akili, director of the Combined Harare Residents Association, criticised the growing enforcement budget. "Funds spent on enforcement, salaries, fuel and operations could be better used to rehabilitate markets or public restrooms in the city," he said.
The informal sector is vital, sustaining over 80% of Zimbabwe's population and contributing nearly 72% of the country's GDP. Street vendors dominate this sector across Africa, making up over 85% of jobs, many of which are held by women. In Zimbabwe, their importance has grown as economic instability forces many formal retailers to close.
Despite their economic significance, vendors operate in hostile environments, facing regular evictions under the guise of urban order or health concerns.
Akili warned that creating a specialised police unit to remove vendors will only increase the city's workforce burden and costs. "The council should instead invest in infrastructure where vendors can work comfortably," he said.
While designated vending spaces exist in Harare's CBD, many vendors avoid them due to high stall rents and low foot traffic. The requirement for formal business licences, costing between US$400 and US$800 annually, is prohibitive for many struggling to survive.
Samuel Wadzai, director of the Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation, highlighted the futility of raids. Even when the army was deployed to push out vendors at the request of a former minister, the situation remained unchanged. "Did that result in any significant improvement? No," he said.
In the face of crackdowns, some vendors resort to paying bribes to police officers to avoid eviction.
Jesman Guvheya, a widowed mother of five who has vended for two years, says police sometimes demand US$1 daily per vendor. "There can be three or four groups patrolling at different times, so you might end up paying US$4 a day just to avoid raids," she explains.
But bribes offer no guarantee. Police may still confiscate goods despite payment, leaving vendors with little to sell.
On one recent day, Guvheya narrowly escaped arrest, but her son, also a vendor, was not as fortunate. She had to follow the police truck and pay a bribe to secure his release.
As economic hardships persist, Harare's street vendors face a precarious future-caught between survival in the informal economy and increasingly harsh enforcement actions that threaten their livelihoods.
"They have no mercy at all. Once they take your stock, you'll never get it back," says Saul Nhema, an informal vegetable vendor who began selling after losing his construction job three months ago.
On the day of this interview, vendors along Park Street in Harare's central business district faced two raids by municipal police. Mid-interview, Nhema grabbed his stock and fled as officers approached again.
For years, the Harare City Council has launched aggressive operations against informal vendors, often destroying goods and deploying large police forces to enforce city by-laws that prohibit vending in unauthorized areas. The council cites concerns over littering, illegal vending, and public health risks as justification.
However, critics question the necessity and cost of these crackdowns, especially as the city struggles to provide basic services like clean water.
In 2024, Harare City Council's total revenue was around US$3 million. Yet the cost of policing informal vendors exceeded US$24 million - eight times the city's income. In 2025, the council established a specialised police unit to further target vendors, raising enforcement costs to nearly 12 times its revenue, which is projected to drop to just US$2 million this year. The financial burden is increasingly being borne by the central government.
Repeated requests for comment from the mayor went unanswered.
Reuben Akili, director of the Combined Harare Residents Association, criticised the growing enforcement budget. "Funds spent on enforcement, salaries, fuel and operations could be better used to rehabilitate markets or public restrooms in the city," he said.
The informal sector is vital, sustaining over 80% of Zimbabwe's population and contributing nearly 72% of the country's GDP. Street vendors dominate this sector across Africa, making up over 85% of jobs, many of which are held by women. In Zimbabwe, their importance has grown as economic instability forces many formal retailers to close.
Akili warned that creating a specialised police unit to remove vendors will only increase the city's workforce burden and costs. "The council should instead invest in infrastructure where vendors can work comfortably," he said.
While designated vending spaces exist in Harare's CBD, many vendors avoid them due to high stall rents and low foot traffic. The requirement for formal business licences, costing between US$400 and US$800 annually, is prohibitive for many struggling to survive.
Samuel Wadzai, director of the Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation, highlighted the futility of raids. Even when the army was deployed to push out vendors at the request of a former minister, the situation remained unchanged. "Did that result in any significant improvement? No," he said.
In the face of crackdowns, some vendors resort to paying bribes to police officers to avoid eviction.
Jesman Guvheya, a widowed mother of five who has vended for two years, says police sometimes demand US$1 daily per vendor. "There can be three or four groups patrolling at different times, so you might end up paying US$4 a day just to avoid raids," she explains.
But bribes offer no guarantee. Police may still confiscate goods despite payment, leaving vendors with little to sell.
On one recent day, Guvheya narrowly escaped arrest, but her son, also a vendor, was not as fortunate. She had to follow the police truck and pay a bribe to secure his release.
As economic hardships persist, Harare's street vendors face a precarious future-caught between survival in the informal economy and increasingly harsh enforcement actions that threaten their livelihoods.
Source - The Standard
