Harare, Zimbabwe – With the government’s deadline for informal traders to vacate undesignated areas set for tomorrow, September 9, 2026, tensions are rising across urban centers as local authorities press ahead with demolitions of illegal structures.

The order, announced earlier this week, demands that all street vendors operating outside designated zones remove their stalls or face forced evictions. The move is part of a broader cleanup campaign that has seen bulldozers flatten homes and marketplaces in several townships, including Harare’s high-density suburbs.

Opposition parties have condemned the action. The Action Democratic Movement (ADM) president Alice Nyamande issued a statement titled “You cannot clean up the streets by cleaning out the poor,” criticizing the government for targeting the most vulnerable citizens without offering alternative livelihoods.

Social justice advocate Tendai Ruben Mbofana argues that the current crackdown exposes a deeper political betrayal. In his analysis, Mbofana notes that many informal settlements and vending spaces were originally allocated with the blessing of ruling party structures, often named after liberation heroes, and that vendors were encouraged to operate in exchange for political support, including mobilizing for rallies and constitutional amendment hearings.

“These citizens were used as foot soldiers in the political game, only to be discarded once their usefulness ended,” Mbofana wrote, adding that the recent constitutional amendment removing direct presidential elections left ordinary people without leverage to challenge such decisions.

As the deadline approaches, vendors and residents in affected areas face an uncertain future, with no clear relocation plans announced by the government.