Distraught men, women, and children watched helplessly as a bulldozer razed make-shift stalls that until now were their only means to put food on the table.
At the weekend a lone unarmed municipal cop in a blue shirt and black pants was seen guiding the bulldozer – no one retaliated – after all this is Zimbabwe.
The cop was there to enforce the removal of the stalls that city authorities said made the capital an “eyesore”.
Angered by the weekend “clean-up” in Mbare, a young man shouted from a safe distance: “We are going to become thieves again and mug you as you walk … we tried to earn an honest living and now this”.
The Harare Council said it was content with the progress of the demolition “of illegal structures” in Mbare.
“Mbare clean-up and removal of illegal structures progressed well today. Mbare residents expressed joy that they can now live in peace,” tweeted the City Council on Sunday.
However, the leader of the popular opposition MDC Alliance Nelson Chamisa condemned the destruction of informal trading places.
With elections due in 2023, political parties are manoeuvring to secure votes from mostly struggling urban citizens.
Chamisa said the lack of jobs forced ordinary citizens to “buy and sell” wares and it was “cruel and inhuman” to destroy their stalls without providing an alternative.
“It is cruel, inhuman, and degrading to punish people for attempting to make a living,” said Chamisa, who pointed a finger at “Zanu PF and its proxies” as being behind the destruction of the stalls.
“We unreservedly dissociate ourselves from these activities.”
