Border towns need help to cope with rural to urban migration

Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
RURAL to urban migration has over the years been putting a strain on border towns in Matabeleland South province — Beitbridge and Plumtree — hence they must be capacitated to meet the needs of their growing populations.

This was said by Matabeleland South Minister Provincial Affairs and Devolution Abednico Ncube, while on a tour of housing projects in Beitbridge town on Thursday in the company of National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel Garwe.

Minister Ncube said Beitbridge and Plumtree were the worst affected by the ever-increasing demand for services as more people move to settle in the two towns due to their proximity to South Africa and Botswana.

Plumtree has an estimated population of 50 000 and Beitbridge 80 000.

About seven million people pass through Beitbridge and 2,9 million go through Plumtree each year.

Minister Ncube said the two local authorities were struggling to meet the demand for accommodation for both civil servants and ordinary citizens.

“Matabeleland South province has a unique challenge of housing provision. As you might be aware, the province has two major ports of entry and Beitbridge being one of the busiest inland borders in Southern Africa. This scenario puts immense pressure on the provision of services, particularly housing and social amenities for the transit population,” he said.

Minister Ncube urged the Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities to come up with strategies to reduce the huge housing backlog, among other challenges.

“Some of these, include the shortage of land for urban expansion, equipment, and machinery to develop housing stands, as well as delays in approval processes. I do hope the Ministry of Housing will expedite the completion of the long outstanding Beitbridge housing projects and improve the plight of the many civil servants who are in dire need of accommodation,” said Minister Ncube.

The Government is working on completing the construction of flats to house 40 families mostly civil servants.

Minister Ncube said the completion of the Beitbridge Redevelopment Programme would bring relief to the community which has suffered years of acute accommodation woes. — @tupeyo