Over 30k people to be affected by demolitions

• 20 housing cooperatives lose court case
• Women, children face harsh rainy season
• Govt supports demolitions

By Kundai Marunya
City of Harare (CoH) is ready to act on their court victory against 20 housing cooperatives that illegally sold land to unsuspecting residents, a development that will leave approximately 30 000 people without shelter.

The city council, which won the case last year, has said it is ready to begin the demolitions.

An estimated five thousand households are set to be immediately plunged into destitution. A cooperative averages 250 members while a family averages six members.

The demolitions are in line with the council’s strong stance against land barons who prey on unsuspecting home seekers.

CoH principal communications officer Michael Chideme said they are ready to act on pending court orders.

“The court orders against 20 cooperatives that are circulating on social media were granted last year and we are ready to act on them,” he said.
“We do not demolish properties where we do not have court orders”.

The Ministry of Local Government and Public Works is on record supporting the demolition of illegal structure in Harare and surrounding areas.

In a keynote address at CoH budget meeting last week, provincial development coordinator for Harare Metropolitan Province Tafadzwa Muguti said that demolitions of illegal structures in Harare will continue even during the rainy season.

He also revealed that an unsanctioned settlement near Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport will soon be vaporised.

“There is a growing concern of illegal settlements and this has been necessitated by the lack of an aggressive development policy.

“…enforcement should be proactive and not reactive. Let’s be agile in our approach to protect open spaces and wetlands in our city,” said Muguti.
Demolitions will, however, affect home seekers, who believed to have legitimately acquired property. Recent demolitions carried out across Harare and Chitungwiza left many families stranded while rains destroyed their belongings.

A visit to an area between Zimre Park and Tafara where houses built on wetlands were destroyed a couple of weeks ago, revealed the inhumane side of demolitions, as several families have been stranded there for days.
Emilia Muchemwa (not real name) who was at the settlement visiting the site of what used to be her home, said she spent the night on open ground when her house was demolished.

“When I acquired the property I believed the process to be legitimate only to be told I had settled on a wetland,” she said.

“When demolitions started I had not yet found a place to house my family which includes three children, an eight-year-old daughter and two sons aged four and two.

“At the moment we have moved in with a friend, but her house is not spacious enough. We had to store some of our furniture outside where it is being damaged by rains and other elements.”

Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) has been lobbying local government and CoH to carry out their demolitions in humane way.

“People must be given ample time to remove their properties and furthermore, we don’t expect new settlements in those same places, we have a challenge of demolitions that are meant to displace people and replace them with new occupants on the same land,” said CHRA programmes manager Reuben Akili.

“Where a court order has been obtained notices on the intention to demolish must be given to the illegal developments … and if possible such demolitions must not be carried out during the rainy season.”

Akili said where stands have been allocated on wetlands, residents should be compensated with more suitable land and money to rebuild their homes.
He said the process in which cooperatives are acquiring land leaves room for loopholes.

“The challenge of cooperatives emanates from the institutional framework for provision of housing. Cooperatives are in the domain of the Ministry of Small to Medium Enterprises and registered with the Ministry of Local Government and then the cooperatives access land from local authorities,” said Akili.

“This creates room for manipulation of the system hence you see that cooperatives have become a common feature whereas they are supposed to be dissolved after provision of housing.

“Cooperatives have become a business instead of people mobilising resources together for house provision”.

CHRA is pushing for pay-schemes, an idea which was introduced by the Ministry of Local Government and later adopted by Harare City Council.
“This can ensure that genuine home seekers have access to housing,” said Akili.

“This is where people pay directly their money to the local authority and when their money has reached the intrinsic land value, are allocated land”.
Demolitions have been destabilising residents since Government’s Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order some years ago. Last week alone, over 1000 people were left homeless when homes in Southlea Park were demolished. Nhau/Indaba