High Court Orders Demolitions To Be Stopped

The High Court of Zimbabwe on Wednesday ordered that demolitions of vendors’ stalls and other “illegal” infrastructures be stopped.

The ruling comes after Harare City Council, equipped with a directive from the Ministry of Local Government, has since last week embarked on a cleanup exercise that saw vendors’ stalls around the city demolished.

The order was issued by High Court Judge Justice Munangati-Manongwa after an urgent application filed by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights on behalf of informal traders and residents seeking to stop local and central govt from demolishing their vending stalls and tuckshops across the country.

Following the issuance of the order, ZLHR posted on social media and said:

BREAKING NEWS: High Court orders demolitions to be stopped in Chitungwiza & Epworth as they are unlawful&unprocedural. @ZLHRLawyers believes this ban should serve as a warning to the rest of all councils that demolitions will have repercussions on them.

Harare City Council had extended the demolitions from workplaces to places of residence where they demolished tuckshops.

Citizens across the country were complaining about the demolitions saying that local authorities were destroying their sources of livelihood.