A sprawling 13-roomed mansion in Bulawayo’s affluent Kumalo suburb, already built up to roof level, is now facing demolition after city auditors uncovered a decades-long tangle of illegal ownership transfers, missing documents and alleged attempts by municipal officials to conceal the stand from the official records.
Council
officials say the house, located at 15 Pingstone Road, was constructed without
a single approved building plan and its ownership has been the subject of a
38-year dispute involving at least four claimants.
The saga
resurfaced recently when Mr Raphael Masuku, one of the supposed owners, alerted
the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) that construction was underway on what he
believed was his property.
His complaint
sparked a full audit that has since exposed deep irregularities stretching back
to 1987. According to a confidential council report, the stand was first
purchased in 1987 by the late Mrs Girlie Malunga, who died 10 months later.
Ownership then
passed on to her husband, Mr Joseph Bingo Malunga, who, audit findings reveal,
failed to pay the full purchase price or develop the stand within the required
timeframes.
What followed
was a trail of questionable transfers, handwritten claims, missing files and
contradictory statements culminating in a High Court-ordered transfer in 2022
to the estate of the late Thabani Mguni.
Auditors
discovered that the Town Planning Department’s file contained references to two
approved building plans, but neither can be found.
A 2002 council
receipt referencing a “copy of Agreement of Sale” issued to one Mr Mhlanga was
also flagged as suspicious, with auditors suggesting the document it was
attached to may have been removed.
One man, Mr
Stanley Mpofu, told police he bought the stand from Mr Malunga in 2008,
partially built a slab and later sold the property to the late Thabani Mguni in
2012.
However,
auditors were unable to locate Mpofu and had to rely solely on the police
statement.
Adding to the
confusion, Mr Masuku claims he bought the same stand from Mr Malunga in 2016,
claims the audit dismisses as “unsupported by facts.”
The late
Mguni’s widow, Mrs Eukellia Mguni, told investigators she obtained a High Court
order affirming her husband’s ownership before she sold the stand to Mr Fanwell
Zouma, believed to be based in South Africa.
Mr Zouma is
reportedly the one behind the current construction, the unapproved 13-room
mansion now earmarked for demolition.
The audit
sharply criticises BCC for selling the stand in 1987 for $3 540 but only
receiving a quarter of the amount and then taking no action to recover the
balance, raising suspicions of “unprocedural acts to conceal the property.”
In a damning
finding, the audit accuses the council’s Housing and Community Services
Department of supplying inaccurate ownership information to the Chamber
Secretary, which was later communicated to external parties.
“Such
inaccuracies compromise the reliability of City processes and the reputation of
the City as a custodian of accurate information,” auditors warned, adding that
the misinformation exposes the municipality to litigation.
During debate
on the scandal, councillors questioned why BCC failed to challenge the 2023
High Court order that recognised Mrs Mguni’s claims.
They warned
that allowing irregular transfers to stand could embolden others to bypass
council procedures and head straight to court.
The committee
was unanimous in that: “The structure on the stand should be demolished due to
a history of irregularities.”
Councillors
said the demolition is necessary to restore the integrity of council
procedures, protect the city’s legal interests and send a clear message that
unlawful construction and improper stand allocations will not be tolerated.
Demolition is
expected once formal procedures are completed. Sunday News
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