Fix Zimbabwe's Broken Economy Before Driving Vendors Off the Streets, Union Says

Zimbabwe's trade union movement says the government should repair the economy before it removes thousands of people who rely on street vending to survive.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions issued its criticism after Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe gave illegal street vendors and informal traders until Wednesday, September 9, 2026, to leave undesignated trading sites. The directive initially targeted Harare's central business district and the wider Harare Metropolitan Province, then expanded into a nationwide crackdown. Law enforcement and municipal police were instructed to dismantle and demolish irregular stalls, structures and informal vending sites.

ZCTU Secretary General Tirivanhu Marimo rejected the minister's claim that vendors were contributing to poor urban sanitation, blocked public walkways and disruption for formal businesses. He said the government should accept responsibility for an economy that had left thousands of graduates with no choice but to sell goods on the streets.

"People who are into street vending are not into it for their liking but are being forced due to the unemployment levels largely blamed on bad economic policies," Marimo said. "Instead of harassing vendors, the government must first of all restore economic growth and create the promised millions of jobs and by doing so, all vendors will vanish overnight."

Marimo said the informal economy had become the country's biggest employer and needed careful treatment. He also criticized the ultimatum for providing no alternative or permanent solution through local authorities. He accused both ruling-party and opposition politicians of encouraging impoverished Zimbabweans to enter vending during election periods, then describing the same activity as an eyesore afterward. He blamed what he called the government's anti-poor stance and extreme neoliberal approach for worsening the situation.

“

People who are into street vending are not into it for their liking but are being forced due to the unemployment levels largely blamed on bad economic policies. Instead of harassing vendors, the government must first of all restore economic growth and create the promised millions of jobs and by doing so, all vendors will vanish overnight.