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City of Masvingo (Anti-litter) By-Laws, 2025

Masvingo's anti-litter penalties are mild — US$5 for littering or missing bins, US$10 for dumping or sweeping waste into a gutter — but refusing an officer's instruction costs US$100.

These by-laws apply throughout the City of Masvingo. Owners and occupiers must provide an adequate number of receptacles in and around their business area, and littering, sweeping waste into gutters, road reserves or culverts, and interfering with public litter bins are prohibited, as is unauthorised disposal or dumping.

Articles reasonably regarded as abandoned — judged by where they lie, for how long and in what condition — may be removed and disposed of by the council, as may anything chained or fastened to a council pole or parking meter without authority. Where waste accumulates on premises so as to create or risk a nuisance, the council may make a special removal and charge the owner or occupier the applicable tariff.

The fixed penalties are modest: US$5 for depositing litter in a public place, for failing to provide adequate bins and for disturbing or removing anything from a public litter receptacle, and US$10 for sweeping waste into a gutter, road reserve or culvert and for depositing or abandoning litter in a public place. Failing to pick up litter dropped in the course of business is printed as US$0,00.

The exception is enforcement: refusing to comply with an instruction issued by an authorised person carries US$100 — twenty times the littering fine.

What changed

  • Business premises must provide adequate litter receptacles or face US$5
  • Littering and interfering with a public bin carry US$5; dumping and gutter-sweeping US$10
  • Refusing to comply with an authorised person's instruction carries US$100
  • The council may remove abandoned articles and charge for special removal of accumulated waste

Who this affects

  • Businesses and shop owners in Masvingo
  • Residents and visitors in public places
  • Property owners with accumulated waste
  • Council environmental health officers

Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.