Friday 16 August 2019

HARARE EVICTS ILLEGAL TENANTS


Harare City Council has started evicting illegal tenants from its properties, especially flats, to pave way for legitimate ones.

This comes after investigations revealed that some tenants were subletting the properties, while others were neither paying rentals nor bills.

In some cases, tenants have not vacated the flats despite exceeding the maximum period for lease of at least five years.

According to recent minutes of the education, housing and community services and licensing committee, at least 54 properties. mostly flats, were being occupied by illegal tenants. 

“The Acting Director of Housing and Community Services, Mr Fanny Machipisa, reported that his department was evicting the illegal tenants.

“Investigations carried out by the department had established at Trafalgar Court there were 43 units and were all issued with eviction notices. Eight more units which were used by council employees were to be regularised under the current exercise on regularisation.

“One unit at 9 Drummond Chaplin Road, Milton Park, was issued with an eviction notice, another unit in Greencroft and one more in Eastlea were also issued with eviction notices,” read the minutes.

Mr Machipisa reported that the deadline for the notices had also expired and council was taking the legal route to deal with non-compliant tenants. 

“The committee noted that eviction notices were expiring on July 11, 2019. Once illegal tenants failed to comply with the notices, eviction procedures were going to be instituted through the Chamber Secretary’s Department at a cost to the illegal tenants,” noted the minutes.

He also indicated that only two illegal tenants at Trafalgar Court had moved out of the flats.

The committee queried why council employees were occupying the flats illegally when there was a caretaker who resided at the block of flats along Julius Nyerere Way

Mr Machipisa also said that the occupants of the flats were surrendering keys to their colleagues when moving out instead of handing them over to the caretaker.

“At times the caretaker would only notice after some time that the original occupant had moved out. The occupants had devised methods where they moved their furniture in bits and pieces to avoid any suspicions from the caretaker as well as other residents.” Herald

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