When confronted with the news that another clean up campaign is on the cards, one Zimbabwean mechanic in Area W laughed off and said: "The operation would be a non-starter because it wouldn't last for more than a week". Sam Chikoya from Bulawayo said the government always comes up with various clean-up campaigns but they all failed. "This one like others before it, is bound to fail. For instance, just take the case of the clean-up campaign targeted at illegal aliens. It is hopeless," Chikoya explained as he worked on a car engine he was overhauling. He said during the operation, he would comply with law enforcement officers but immediately they leave, he would start his business again. Kekgonegile Mothoetsho, a Motswana operating a welding business said he would close shop on Thursday. Like Chikoya, he said he would resume business immediately the law enforcers leave the area.
The FCC's two-day clean-up campaign last year incorporated bye-law enforcement officers and the police and all the illegal structures along the main roads were uprooted and destroyed. The FCC came under fire for the operation that was equated with the brutal 'Operation Murambatsvina' in Zimbabwe. The FCC later conceded and promised to open an incubator area next to the Golf Club in Donga for the small business people especially those running car washes.
