Zimbabwe: Angry Harare residents have clashed with police over the last two days, damaging property and vehicles in the first major protest against a crackdown on illegal traders and hawkers.
Police have arrested more than 10,000 people in Harare and other cities since last week in a blitz to subdue a black market economy that has thrived on shortages of foreign currency and basic commodities. Police yesterday vowed to press ahead with the clean-up exercise.
Residents fought with police in the opposition-dominated suburb of Glen View in the capital on Wednesday after the razing of illegal roadside shacks and stalls provoked a violent response from some vendors and informal traders. Yesterday clashes escalated between the security forces and residents, particularly at Glen Norah's Mkomva shopping centre.
Up to 1 million of Harare's urban poor face eviction at the end of July following an announcement by Zimbabwe's government that it is going to demolish all "illegal structures" in the city.
The announcement this week of Operation Marambatsvina, which translates as "drive out rubbish", is the latest of a number of crackdown measures introduced by the Zimbabwean African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) led government against informal businesses and residents living in the capital's low income suburbs.
The implementation of the operation effectively began late last week when heavily armed police began raiding a number of premises in the city and arresting hundreds of people suspected of black market trading.
Those arrested were allegedly found in possession of large quantities of foreign currencies and essential goods - including fuel, salt and washing powder - that are currently in short supply but can be acquired via the black market.
The crackdown continued throughout this week with the authorities claiming they had arrested up to 10,000 of Harare's street vendors and flea market traders as well as destroying hundreds of their makeshift premises.
Tensions in the suburbs are running extremely high, and police have established temporary camps within those suburbs in an effort to quell the potential for further violence.
The Combined Harare Residents Association has sharply criticised the campaign, saying that it was designed to divert public attention away from the government's economic failures.
However, Harare's government-appointed mayor, Sekesai Makwavara, said that the measures were an attempt by the government to clean up the city.
"The attitude of the members of the public as well as some city officials has led to the point whereby Harare has lost its glow. We are determined to get it back," she said.
She added that the crackdown would be widened to other urban centres and to take in illegal activities such as "vandalism of property, commuter ranks, prostitution, and illegal cultivation".
A deadline of July 31st has been given to people living in makeshift structures to take down their homes and move away. Otherwise the authorities claim the homes will be demolished unless residents appeal the action through the courts and are granted a grace period.
Spokesperson for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Paul Themba-Nyathi, insisted the government's actions were an attempt to punish the city's citizens, the majority of whom voted for the MDC in the general election on March 31th.
Traditionally the MDC has drawn its support from urban areas while Zanu-PF has been most successful in rural areas. In the recent election the MDC won almost all the urban seats.
"These actions are not about cleaning up anything," Mr Themba-Nyathi told The Irish Times. "The government is carrying out a personal vendetta against the citizens of the capital because the majority of them voted against it."
He added that it was totally unreasonable of the government to target causal traders when the country's unemployment rate is running at around 85 per cent.
"What do you expect people to do? Starve? People are going to try and earn a living one way or another. We completely condemn what is going on."
When asked if the current government action might lead to a popular uprising by Harare's poor he insisted that "anything is possible". However, he suggested that such a move could play into the hands of President Mugabe who could then introduce a state of emergency.