This
development also coincides with revelations that over 200 houses have been
built on land reserved for Harare Drive, while irregular settlements are
estimated to comprise over 100 000 houses, as land barons wreak havoc in the
Harare Metropolitan Province.
The startling
revelations came to light during a workshop held yesterday, where local
authorities in Harare Metropolitan Province were required to present updates on
their draft master plans to Minister Charles Tavengwa ahead of formal
submission.
In his
presentation, Epworth Local Board Spatial planner Mr Pardon Chibuwe said over
16 500 people had illegally invaded land and settled themselves on areas
reserved for public facilities.
“One of the
findings from the total study that we carried out for the Epworth Master Plan,
is that we have an estimated 16 500 people who are settled in areas that we are
saying are and use conflict areas.
“What we mean
by that is we have areas that have been planned for other industries which are
industrial, we have schools, we have hospital sites, we have say clinics and
all that.”
Mr Chibuwe
blamed land barons who are masquerading as genuine land developers for the
illegal parcelling of land.
“So those areas
have been invaded by illegal land developers, which now poses a challenge on
behalf of the local authority especially to do with how are we then going to
locate these people, where are we going to put these people.”
He, however,
said the local board was planning to regularise those settlements through
densification, which would involve some evictions. “To solve some of these
issues, we have proposed densifying areas of conflict that can absorb some of
this population,” Mr Chibuwe said. “Through densification, we aim to reduce the
size of stands in those areas we have identified, and we also want to promote
densification by building up (vertical development) structures that will
accommodate more people.”
He further
disclosed that Epworth has approximately 2 500 stands, with an average size of
3 00m², earmarked for densification.
It also emerged
that Epworth no longer has space for a cemetery, industries, schools and
churches due to land invasions.
Harare Mayor
Jacob Mafume echoed similar sentiments, saying the city was running out of
space and looking forward to solving the issue through densification.
“We are also
going to discuss building densification. We are going to build higher. The city
cannot be as short as its mayor; it needs to grow vertically.
“So, we’re
aiming to ensure our city features high-rise buildings. We’re also exploring
industry expansion, as well as enhancements to education and health
facilities.”
While the
Harare Master Plan is yet to be finalised, Mayor Mafume hinted last December
that the city planned to demolish 5 000 houses, which he said was just a small
fraction of the over 100 000 houses built in illegal settlements across the
city.
“The irregular
settlements number over 100 000 houses in and around Harare. The illegal houses
will soon outnumber the legal rate-paying houses of Harare. The 322 000
households we bill foot the bill for everyone,” Mayor Mafume posted on his X
account.
“These are
built on schools, clinics, open spaces and sports grounds. We stopped because
of elections and the SADC. Children are forced to travel 8 km to school.
Clinics are non-existent. Houses are flooding. It has to be corrected.”
Chitungwiza
Municipality’s director of works, Mr Talent Mushinga, also expressed concern
over the scarcity of industrial areas adding that they were failing to deal
with land barons.
“Forty-six
years on Chitungwiza’s form remain predominantly residential. This is aside
from the industrial area, which itself remains administered from Harare due to
the lack of a focal central business district or a high street in the town.
“Nationally
supported infrastructure (road and rail) principally focused on ferrying the
residents of the town to a commercially and industrially more diverse Harare
making the town more of an economic catchment rather than a focal point.”
Minister
Tavengwa said the Master Plans were part of the Second Republic’s ongoing
efforts to address the current challenges faced by local authorities.
“I am glad to
report that out of the four local authorities, three —
Chitungwiza, Epworth, and Ruwa — managed to submit their plans, while
Harare could not finalise its plan. We are now in the consultation stage,
consulting the general public. The delays were mainly due to funding issues.”
He said
yesterday’s engagement dovetailed well with President Mnangagwa’s call to-action plan for all local
authorities, aimed at improving service delivery and modernising their
operations.
The plan,
launched in 2023, titled, “A Call to Action – No Compromise to Service
Delivery,” is designed to drive progress towards achieving specific goals by
2030. Herald
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