Harare demolishes Mabelreign tuckshops

Source: Harare demolishes Mabelreign tuckshops – herald

Municipal Correspondent

Harare City Council on Saturday demolished tuckshops at Mabelreign Shopping Centre, saying the structures had been erected without approved plans and on land reserved for parking.

The move was confirmed by Harare Mayor Councillor Jacob Mafume, who said the demolition formed part of efforts to restore order and modernise the city’s shopping centres.

Council officials moved in early Saturday, flattening the near-complete structures and leaving piles of rubble at the site.

The action sparked debate after a leaked internal report suggested the local authority had previously considered plans for temporary market facilities at the shopping centre.

Mayor Mafume said the action was taken after authorities established that due processes had not been followed.

“The reason why they were demolished is that there were no approved plans for the tuck-shops, it was on a place designated as a car park and they were aesthetically not in keeping with a modern city in that part of town.”

He said Harare’s shopping centres required renewal and proper urban planning rather than makeshift developments that undermine property values.

“We need to find a way of transforming, of truly transforming our shopping centres instead of devaluing them.

“Our shopping centres require transformation and modernisation in keeping with the direction of the rest of Government and our master plan.”

The mayor’s remarks follow the leaking of Report No. 169 DHCS 2026, prepared by the City of Harare’s Department of Housing and Community Services and dated January 26, 2026.

The report outlines a proposal for the construction of a “temporary modern mixed-use market facility” at Mabelreign Shopping Centre as a donation to the council.

Responding to claims that the project had been approved by senior council officials from the Housing, Works, Urban Planning departments and the town clerk’s office, Mayor Mafume said only preliminary approval had been granted.

“What was approved was a desire to enter into a partnership,” said Clr Mafume.

“However, once such approvals happen in the SME committee, those approvals have to go to the planning committee, which will then look at the desirability of the place, what needs to be done to make the place a market, to build brick-and-mortar buildings.”