Harare city title deeds plan for Mbare flats courts residents’ ire

Takunda Mandura

Harare—Mbare flats, built in colonial time era, stand as a stark reminder of the country’s grim urban history.

And decades of neglect have left these structures in a perilous state, with crumbling walls, leaking pipes, and severe structural instability posing significant safety risks.

Despite a 2024 High Court order mandating the Harare City Council (HCC) to restore water and sewer systems and upgrade the rundown flats little progress has been made at Matapi, Matererini, Shawasha Hostels, and Nenyere flats that have become severely overcrowded and turned into havens for crime.

Instead, HCC has opted to issue title deeds to tenants, a decision critics argue is a diversion from addressing the urgent need for renovations.

The capital’s municipality has been widely criticised for allegedly trying to wiggle out of its responsibility to make the flats habitable once again.

Precious Shumba, director of the Harare Residents Trust (HRT), condemned the council’s approach, accusing it of “dumping dead infrastructure” on residents.

“We believe that the council’s plan is a way of shirking its responsibility to repair and maintain the flats on behalf of the residents living there,” said Shumba.

“Our appeal to the council is for them to perhaps enter into an agreement with these tenants so that the structures and pipes are replaced, and the tenants will probably sacrifice, but as it stands, the tenants are being given dead infrastructure without much hope of reviving it,” added Shumba.

Reuben Akili of the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) expressed the same sentiments, urging the council to ensure the flats are habitable before transferring ownership.

“These flats must be handed over in habitable conditions, not the status they are in at the moment,” he said.

Akili insisted that, with enough willpower, HCC could rehabilitate the flats.

“If there is political will or if there is the will to address the issues of Mbare, I think they can be addressed.

The local authority has the money. That is why, as we hear, they are able to pay their executives as much as US$12,000 a month. Repairing a window costs only $3,” said Akili, referring to the fact most of the flats no longer have window panes.

There are widespread fears that the flats will deteriorate even further if ownership is given to the occupants.

In addition, it is not clear how the council will choose the occupants to hand over the flats to.

Stanley Gama, HCC’s corporate communications manager, acknowledged the court order but cited a lack of resources as the primary obstacle.

“There is the High Court challenge where the city council was ordered to renovate the apartments, which may mean that all tenants will have to move while we renovate.

“But it’s a huge capital budget, as you know, and the city council has to raise that money somehow,

“Remember, ratepayers’ money is not even enough for us to run our operations,” said Gama.

He also blamed “primary tenants” for subletting their flats and their failure to pay council rates.

Section 73(1) of Zimbabwe’s Constitution guarantees the right to a clean and safe environment.

The Mbare flats are considered a ticking time bomb.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has publicly stated that the government intends to demolish the dilapidated residential flats in Mbare and replace them with modern buildings.

In 2023, he asserted that previous efforts by the government had been thwarted by the opposition-led HCC.

However, the opposition contends that Zanu PF politicians have consistently undermined plans to rehabilitate the crumbling Mbare hostels.

Chiwenga further claimed that the national budget has not adequately reflected the necessary funding for the demolition and reconstruction of the flats since 2019.

Previous attempts to rehabilitate the flats, including a 2011 initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, were thwarted by political interference.