The Government has announced new operating hours for legally registered and permitted vendors, with trading in central business districts (CBDs) restricted to between 6am and 6pm, while vendors operating in residential communities will be allowed to trade until 8pm.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, Engineer Tafadzwa Muguti, announced the measures as authorities intensify efforts to regulate informal trading and restore order in urban areas.
Muguti said the new hours would apply across all 92 local authorities, with vending in CBDs prohibited after 6pm and trading in residential areas prohibited after 8pm.
“Between 6am to 6pm, that is vending within any business district, that is across all 92 local authorities,” Muguti said.
“Vending within the residential communities will be then allowed from 6am to 8pm. After 6pm, we don't expect to see anyone doing vending within any business district. And after 8pm, we don't expect to see any vending within residential communities. That includes high-density suburbs.”
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He said the measures were also intended to bring vending hours into line with business operating permits, which generally restrict businesses from operating beyond 8pm unless their licences provide otherwise.
The announcement comes as the Government and local authorities step up enforcement against informal traders operating from undesignated sites, particularly in Harare, where Operation Chenesa Harare has been underway since September 9.
The Government had given vendors operating from unauthorised sites in Harare until September 9 to relocate to designated trading areas, warning that a zero-tolerance clean-up operation would follow.
The directive was subsequently implemented through a joint operation involving the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works and the City of Harare.
At least 300 municipal police officers were deployed in Harare as the operation intensified, with authorities saying the officers would work in shifts to prevent vendors from returning to areas that had been cleared.
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