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Government Launches Investigation Into “Illegal” House Demolitions In Harare


This
comes
after
members
of
parliament
questioned
the
reasons
behind
the
demolitions.
Ziyambi
said
that
the
government
was
not
involved,
adding
that
no
court
order
had
been
issued
for
the
demolitions.
He
said:

In
fact,
in
this
particular
case,
it
is
the
Municipality
of
Harare
that
demolished
the
houses
without
a
court
order.


Everything
that
the
honourable
member
has
said
falls
squarely
into
the
hands
of
the
city
authorities.

They
are
the
ones
that
have
been
allowing
the
buildings
to
be
built.
They
are
the
ones
that
have
demolished,
you
can
go
and
check,
they
were
demolished
without
even
a
court
order
and
we
have
also
requested
that
this
be
investigated.

Ziyambi
also
concurred
with
fellow
legislators
that
authorities
should
prevent
the
illegal
construction
of
houses
and
not
wait
until
the
houses
have
been
completed
to
effect
demolitions.
He
said:

I
agree
with
you.
Why
wait
until
a
house
has
been
built
and
then
you
send
bulldozers
to
destroy
it?
Some
of
the
houses
were
beautiful
structures
and
it
is
not
even
fair
to
those
people.

So,
I
believe
it
is
a
point
of
national
interest
but
it
is
a
point
that
our
local
authorities
largely
controlled
by
the
opposition,
must
also
have
a
humane
face
and
be
able
to
articulate
some
of
these
issues
from
a
human
rights
perspective.

On
Wednesday,
November
13,
the
City
of
Harare
said
that
it
had
intervened
to
stop
illegal
land
allocations
by
land
barons
in
the
Belvedere
area,
specifically
in
Ridgeview,
where
unauthorised
developments
had
been
taking
place.

In
a
statement,
the
City
confirmed
that
the
land
in
question
is
legally
owned
by
the
local
authority
and
is
designated
for
residential
use.

Approved
for
development
in
2002,
the
area
contains
52
unserviced
residential
stands,
with
valuations
completed
by
the
Council
in
2021.

The
city
council
said
that
despite
the
land
being
unserviced—lacking
basic
infrastructure
such
as
water,
sewer
systems,
roads,
and
drainage—a
company
called
Brickstone
Builders
and
Contractors
illegally
occupied
15
of
these
stands
and
began
constructing
structures.

In
2022,
the
City
of
Harare
met
with
Brickstone
Builders
to
inform
them
that
they
needed
to
follow
proper
procedures
to
acquire
Council
land.
However,
by
July
2023,
illegal
construction
had
resumed,
posing
health
risks
to
the
surrounding
community.

Brickstone
Builders
claimed
to
have
received
a
land
allocation
letter
from
the
Ministry
of
Local
Government,
but
the
Ministry
later
disowned
the
document,
confirming
it
was
fraudulent.

Despite
receiving
48-hour
notices
from
the
Council
to
halt
construction,
the
company
obtained
a
court
interdict
based
on
the
fake
letter,
which
prohibited
further
development.

However,
when
Brickstone
Builders
ignored
the
court
order
and
continued
building,
the
City
of
Harare
took
action
and
demolished
30
of
the
illegal
structures.

According
to
the
council,
the
remaining
three
structures,
covered
by
the
interdict,
will
be
addressed
through
further
legal
action.

Post
published
in:

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