Demolitions of houses built illegally on private land in Harare south started yesterday and the Government will now be targeting unapproved and illegal settlements set up by land barons, with regularisation only an option for some built earlier on.
A few properties in the new Retreat suburb in Waterfalls
were demolished yesterday as they were illegally built on private land owned by
Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa, and were not part of a Government drive.
But National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel
Garwe said all houses built on illegally allocated public land will also be
demolished as Government seeks to restore order in urban settlements.
Houses built on wetlands and open spaces zoned for
recreation, along with informal structures built on land reserved for social
amenities, are to be targeted under an exercise to rid towns and cities of
illegal settlements. Some of these illegal housing stands were created by land
barons, some were created by corrupt municipal councillors and officials.
Speaking on the sidelines of a stakeholders’ seminar
organised by the Zimbabwe Builders and Contractors Association in Harare
yesterday, Minister Garwe said land barons took advantage of an announcement by
Government that it could consider regularising some illegal allocations and
settlements. The barons took advantage of this to offload a flood of new stands
and started hacking out further open land to subdivide.
“We are aware of what is happening in Harare now. There are
areas reserved for recreational facilities and we have told local authorities
not to sell that land and wetlands. These are not supposed to be destroyed by
construction activities and the houses are not going to be spared from
demolitions,” he said.
“The reason why there were massive activities of
construction in those areas is because the ministry announced that some homes
were not going to be destroyed, but would be regularised and land barons took
advantage and started constructing new structures,” said Minister Garwe.
Writing on his Twitter handle yesterday, Permanent Secretary for Information and Publicity Mr Nick Mangwana warned of impending house demolitions and the closure of illegal or unregistered businesses as the Government seeks to clean up the capital.
“Expect demolitions of illegal structures, arrests of
illegal vendors, land barons, sand and water poachers, money changers, closure
of unregistered businesses and closing of unlicensed shops in Harare.
Lawlessness is being clamped on,” said Mr Mangwana.
There has been criticism of Harare City Council for not
moving in swiftly when unapproved building takes place. All those building
houses, or any other structure, in an urban area have to have building plans
approved and then have regular checks by inspectors at set points in the
construction.
Under normal circumstances this would stop illegal
structures, or structures on stands that should not exist, since municipal
officials would simply not approve the plans. But some land barons pretend to
the people they con that everything has been approved in bulk, and there are
suspicions that corrupt officials may be implicated.
All stands have to be created on an approved layout,
regardless of whether this is for private or public land, with large-scale
private developers required to get town planning approval before subdivision
and development, which must include agreed services such as roads, sewers,
water pipes and Zesa servitudes. On public land the relevant council or
ministry would create the layout plans.
Those whose houses are being demolished at the behest of
Prophet Makandiwa were seeking help.
Moses Mutambara, a Form Six student who stays with his
brother at one of the houses which was demolished yesterday, said they had lost
a lot of valuables.
“I was called by neighbours that our house was being
demolished. This is my brother’s house. He is at work now. As you can see, our
property has been damaged and we have lost a lot of valuables. I cannot even
locate my national ID and to make matters worse, we are scheduled to write
exams next month,” he said.
It was a double tragedy for Mr Shadmore Muzeya who is
processing repatriation papers for his sister who died in South Africa.
“We find ourselves in a very terrible situation. I have to
quickly find a plan for the accommodation of the family. But our appeal is for
the Government to help us against these unscrupulous land barons.” Herald
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