This comes as Harare City Council has announced plans to
demolish over 5 000 houses beginning this week, with 48-hour eviction notices
already issued to people with houses allegedly built without approval on land
reserved for public amenities.
Some of the properties targeted are in Mabelreign,
Kuwadzana, Budiriro, Kuwadzana, Mabvuku and Glen View.
But in interview last Friday on the sidelines of a meeting
of the Institute of Architects of Zimbabwe in Harare, Local Government and
Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe criticised the City of Harare’s approach of
wantonly demolishing people’s houses without adequate notice.
He called for the need to respect citizens’ rights to
shelter and expressed concern over council’s “unreasonable” notice period for
residents to vacate their homes, which was set at just four to five days.
Minister Garwe said if the City of Harare was to demolish
houses, it could knock down structures built on land set as side for social
amenities such as schools, railway lines and recreational areas, and not other
reasons.
“We are human beings, and every human being has got a right
to shelter,” said Minister Garwe.
“There is a lot of excitement from the City of Harare in
terms of wanting to demolish people’s homes, they are playing to the gallery,
condemning public officials and the Government that we are just issuing
statements because there was the Extraordinary SADC Summit recently.
“Yes, we appreciate that those houses were illegally built,
people who were not following the laid down procedures, people built on land
set aside for other activities social amenities, schools and railway line; we
are aware of that as Government.”
The Government, Minister Garwe said, had advised the
council to “give these people adequate notice to vacate those areas so that
they can then come and demolish, while these people are properly settled
elsewhere”.
“Give them three or four months’ notice; but they were
giving them four days, five days. Who can build a house in four days in
Zimbabwe, and then move to where it is built?” he said.
While Minister Garwe acknowledged that many houses were
built illegally on designated land, he advocated a more humane approach.
He also issued a stern warning regarding illegal land sales
by land barons, urging citizens to refrain from purchasing land from bogus
individuals, stressing that such transactions could lead to criminal charges
for both buyers and sellers. “It is illegal to buy land from land barons,” he
said.
He encouraged the public to report suspicious land sales,
highlighting the importance of vigilance in land transactions that appear too
good to be true, such as buying a 2 000 square metre stand for US$500. Herald
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