Hundreds given notice to evacuate Chitungwiza flats

Edgar Gweshe

 

Harare–Hundreds of residents in Unit G, Chitungwiza, could soon be homeless after the municipality issued a notice for them to vacate the dilapidated flats that they have occupied for decades.

An estimated 64 flats located in Chitungwiza’s Ward 25 stand to be demolished and about 500 thrown out.

The hostels were first occupied around 1982.

In a 5 August letter addressed to the residents, the Chitungwiza council said the decision to demolish the flats was part of a resolution from the council’s 484th ordinary meeting held in February this year.

The municipality also contends that the hostels are no longer fit for human habitation and has given the affected residents three months’ notice to vacate.

“Council, at its 484th ordinary meeting held on 12 February 2024, resolved that Unit G hostels be demolished (by) June 2024. The decision of the council is premised on the fact that the hostels were decommissioned as not suitable for human habitation and that the area where the hostels are located is now zoned commercial.

“In view of the above, you are given three months’ notice to vacate the said hostel. Further, take note that failure to vacate within the notice period may leave council without option except to institute eviction proceedings against you,” reads the letter signed by one Tendai Chinganga on behalf of the acting town clerk, Japson Nemuseso.

The overcrowded flats have had no running water for years, toilets are out of service and the buildings are severely run down.

Chitungwiza municipality spokesperson, Tafadzwa Kachiko, told NewsHub that the hostels were decommissioned in 2017.

He added that prostitution and drug peddling and consumption were rife at the flats, which he said were severely vulnerable to waterborne diseases.

But Alice Kuvheya, the Chitungwiza Residents Trust (CHITREST) director, warned the municipality against the arbitrary eviction of the hostel occupants.

“Council cannot just wake up and issue evacuation notices without proper consultations or giving residents options as to where they should go.

“We will resist their ill-informed move and take all the necessary measures to protect the residents that stand to be affected,” said Kuvheya.

CHITREST is mulling an urgent court application against the impending demolitions and evictions, says Kuvheya.

Chitungwiza Ward 25 Councilor, Arthur Gunzvenzve, said a “major humanitarian disaster” was brewing in the area in light of the planned demolitions and rapped council for not providing the affected occupants alternative shelter.

“This is a case of huge concern, especially given the huge numbers that stand to be affected. I am deeply concerned by the plight of the people that stand to be affected and as their representative I will explore various options including engagements with council and the legal route to ensure that the rights of the people residing in these flats are protected,” Gunzvenzve told NewsHub.

Chitungwiza mayor, Rosaria Mangoma, confirmed the impending evictions but could not give further details.

Her spokesperson, Kachiko, claimed that the residents were offered alternative residential stands but could not supply details.

“The Unit G hostels were built in the 1960s with the establishment of Seke Township. The original occupants were accommodated in 1982. These hostels were decommissioned sometime in 2017 because of their poor state,” said Kachiko.

“The council then gave the original inhabitants alternative residential stands a long ago. The current occupiers have been renting from the original inhabitants, with a few taking advantage of the vacancy created when the hostels were decommissioned,” he said.