Municipal Reporter
Local Government, Urban and Rural Development Minister Ignatius Chombo has backed the Harare City Council’s clampdown on illegal car sales. Minister Chombo yesterday described claims by the Zanu-PF

Harare province youth league that council was thwarting indigenisation as ill-founded. “Does indigenisation say build on wrong places?” he asked.
Minister Chombo said people interested in selling cars should conduct that business on designated sites and pay rentals to council.
The current situation, in which all road sides of thoroughfares leading into and out of the city have been converted into car sales, he said, was unsightly.
“If one is involved in an accident the likelihood of ramming a parked car is very high,” he said.
Harare provincial chairman of the indigenisation committee Cde Noah Mangondo said the city was only targeting for demolition car sales owned by people aligned to Zanu-PF. “The City is going against the indigenisation programme.
“It is also selectively targeting people aligned to Zanu-PF,” he said.
He alleged some senior council officials were receiving bribes to licence dealers aligned to the MDC-T.
City spokesman Mr Leslie Gwindi said the exercise was non-partisan and was geared to bring sanity to the capital as part of the Vision 2025 which seeks to make Harare a World Class City.
“As council we are undeterred. We shall involve the law enforcement agents to look into the matter.
“We feel anybody who disturbs law and order should be brought to book,” he said.
Car dealers have slammed the exercise arguing the city was out to thwart black empowerment.