The police are cutting a swathe of destruction across the towns and cities of Zimbabwe, as the so called “Operation Murambatsvina” (“Operation Drive Out Trash”) continues to gather momentum. On Wednesday morning (June 1) towns as far apart as Victoria Falls and Mutare were still reeling under the effects of a virtual blitzkrieg orchestrated and directed from ZANU PF central command.
In Harare our reporter was touring the streets of the city’s oldest and most populous low density suburb, Mbare, at 1.00 o’clock in the morning. He could hardly believe his eyes at the trail of destruction and burning and the general desolation of the scene. It resembled, he said, an area hit by a bomb. In every direction through the filthy streets of Mbare could be seen burning household-goods, furniture and rubble. A few distraught residents still milled around, apparently stunned by the speed and ferocity of the attack, although the intimidating presence of scores of heavily armed police kept their number to a minimum.
Similar scenes have been reported over the last few days in Mutare, Victoria Falls and several other centres. The campaign has all the markings of a well-planned and coordinated blitzkrieg, although the residents received no warning and were taken completely unawares by it. At Victoria Falls the police burnt a 10 km long line of curio stalls that have been there for as long as anyone can remember, and in the town so many dwellings were torched that thousands of residents found themselves without any shelter for the night. In Bulawayo, one of the last centres to feel the fury of the ZANU PF attack, a vicious police crackdown got underway on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday morning. It is understood that many of the traders whose stalls and produce were destroyed were operating with licences in structures approved by the local authority.
It is known that more than 18,000 people have been arrested and tens of thousands of families across the nation have been left homeless.