Car sales saga: Hearing date set

The workers are under investigation for reportedly illegally allocating land for car sales and garages in the city. The investigations are being done by the police and senior council management.

The valuation and estate management department has since been closed pending the conclusion of the investigations.

Council spokesperson Mr Leslie Gwindi yesterday said the workers would know their fate beginning tomorrow.

“The investigations are in progress and there will be hearings for the workers on Friday (tomorrow),” he said.

“All the 27 workers are still on suspension until the matter is finalised.”
The shutting down of the department saw council stopping all land valuations and issuance of leases to businesses and residents.

City officials said more departments faced closure if investigations linked them to the illegal allocation of land to car sales.
Mr Gwindi said the demolition of car sales was ongoing.

“We are still going on with the blitz until all illegal car sales have been removed,” he said.
“We are approaching every car sale and looking at the documents. There are some with merits and are about to have all the necessary papers. These are not being demolished. Those without papers or are far from completing the registration process are being destroyed.”

Government has given council up to December 31 to remove all illegal car sales and garages.
“We have a deadline to meet and we are working towards that,” Mr Gwindi said.

In some cases the suspended council officials were issuing expired leases to the dealers.
Some car dealers claimed to have paid council officials between US$2 000 and US$3 000 for land to set up their business, resulting in council losing revenue.

Hundreds of illegal car sales mushroomed in the past two years and council said it was difficult to regularise them because of a “mismatch between the rate at which the city was making them accountable and the rate at which they were being built”.

The Government directive followed reports that only one car sale out of the 200 dotted around Harare was licensed. Of the 200 car sales operating in the city, only 47 have lease agreements while three met town planning requirements and one is in full compliance with the licensing requirements.

Some car dealers erected permanent structures on roadsides and most of them lack ablution facilities.