Government Bans House Demolitions Without Four-Month Notice
The government has announced a ban on the demolition of houses built on illegally acquired land without providing a four-month notice period.
This is meant to give affected property owners enough time to rebuild and ensure they have decent shelter for their families.
The announcement comes in response to the Harare City Council’s plan to demolish over 5,000 houses starting this week.
The council has already issued 48-hour eviction notices to residents whose homes are allegedly built without approval on land designated for public amenities.
The properties targeted include those in Mabelreign, Kuwadzana, Budiriro, Mabvuku, and Glen View.
However, in an interview with The Herald last Friday, on the sidelines of the Institute of Architects of Zimbabwe meeting in Harare, Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe criticized the City of Harare’s approach.
He condemned the demolitions, saying that residents should be given adequate notice before such actions are taken. Said Garwe:
We are human beings, and every human being has a right to shelter. 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, and people built on land set aside for other activities social amenities, schools and railway lines; we are aware of that as Government.
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?
Garwe, however, urged citizens to refrain from purchasing land from land barons, saying such transactions could lead to criminal charges for both buyers and sellers.
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