By Takura
Zhangazha*
The Ministry of
Local Government has done what is sadly familiar. It has sanctioned the demolition of homes,
not just houses, by local authorities in Chitungwiza, Manyame and Epworth. As though to spite the families of these households,
these undemocratic actions were undertaken in the middle of the night or early
hours of the morning last week Thursday and Friday respectively.
With the
assistance of demolition vehicles and the Zimbabwe Republic Police, local
councils were at their most callous.
Watching some of
the directly affected residents being interviewed on the state broadcaster’s evening
news bulletin, a number of issues become apparent. The first is that the reasons being given by
both the responsible ministry and the local councils appear rational on paper
but are essentially dishonest, arbitrary and elitist in import.
In statements attributed
to Deputy Minister of Local Government Biggie Matiza the media reported that
the government is persuaded these houses were built illegally on land that in original
town plans were intended for clinics, schools and churches.
This is in tandem
with declarations also made by the local authorities in the areas concerned but
with the caveat that they were following orders from central government.
The reality of
the matter is that these undemocratic actions are not the result of people
centered local or central government for a number of reasons.
In the first
instance, the houses were constructed with the complicity or even direct participation
of elected officials in both local and central government. Building a house is never an overnight process. And it requires plans, resources and general approval
by a given authority. Some of the houses
that were demolished have been standing for over five years.
For government,
at both local and central levels to want to claim a Damascene moment by turning
around and saying the land allocations were illegal all along is to demonstrate
a peculiar insensitivity to the plight of citizens. Primarily because, not only have these houses
been built under their aegis but also because there is no tangible option of alternative
housing for those that have since been not only evicted but had their houses
brought down.
So both local
and central governments are trying to give an air of rationality to what is essentially
their deliberate undemocratic misleading of home seekers.
The other more significant
consideration is that these demolitions, apart from being undemocratic, are
symptomatic of new battles for land in
urban and peri-urban areas. Both by
elected local councils and traditional leaders.
The character of
these land contestations are related to the profitability of getting councils
and central government to approve the conversion of previously state or
traditional leader controlled land to urban usage.
In the cases of
Chitungwiza, Epworth and Manyame, it is evident that there was corrupt collusion
between local government officials, construction companies( even if they are
small), ruling and opposition party provincial politicians and central government
to offer stands to the homeless without the guarantee of peramnce. Even at
great cost to poor families.
All in quick bids
to make quick money at the expense of the homeless and economically vulnerable.
That is the real reason why these residential stands were allowed to exist for prolonged
periods of time. It was and remains a
complex web of kleptocracy involving the
central state, local government, wannabe real estate agents and corrupt
politicians.
At a national
scale the problem is continuing to emerge with rash decision to give town status
to previous growth points in order to aide the purchasing of land by large
contractors who then on the basis of political affiliation and connections sell
these to the desperately homeless. This
regardless of the fact that local councils do not have final long term planning
frameworks for establishing these new residential areas.
Given the acute
shortage of housing in Zimbabwe, particularly for young families, it becomes
understandable that the desperation leads to quick uptakes of these illicitly
acquired residential stands. And this is
undertaken with very little questions asked except for party card affiliation
and the prospects of either running a little business or building a house in which
one can place lodgers in order to raise much needed revenue. No matter whether one is with the ruling Zanu
Pf party or the mainstream MDC oppositions.
As a result, what
we have obtaining is a housing system that relies largely on the money making
intentions of national/local politicians,
private building contractors and corrupt local councils. These demolitions are
not the last nor are they the first.
From the
infamous Operation Murambatsvina through to the tragic events of last week,
what we have is an evident housing system based on political patronage which unfortunately
is ephemeral, corrupt and in the final analysis being treated as a money making
enterprise. It would do well if the residents
associations reminded government, both local and central that housing is a
human right. Even after the event of tragic
demolitions.
*Takura Zhangazha writes in his personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
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