adminFarirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
Chitungwiza Municipality has halted the demolition of houses in some areas of the town after the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) challenged the process.
The ZLHR wrote to the council on Saturday after protesting against the demolition order the local authority issued on Friday.
Chitungwiza Municipality issued the demolition order in terms of Section 32 and 35 of the Regional, Town and Country Act and affected places in St Mary’s, Zengeza, Seke and Nyatsime.
Those affected were advised to vacate the land, demolish structures, remove property and rubble from the destroyed structures by today. However, the ZLHR said the demolition order was illegal.
“May we kindly remind you that Section 24 of the Constitution provides that no person may be evicted from their home or have their home demolished without an order of the court.
“After considering all the relevant circumstances, your purported order is not in terms of the Constitution and is a clear violation of a basic right of the Constitution,” reads part of the letter from ZLHR.
The lawyers also gave the council up to 9am today to furnish them with a court order, failure of which they would have approached the courts for recourse. Chitungwiza Municipality reversed its earlier decision yesterday.
“Please be advised that council in its special full council meeting held on the 9th of October 2020 resolved to put the demolition exercise in abeyance, hence the demolitions will no longer be effected as per the cited order,” read the letter from Chitungwiza Municipality.
Structures that were set to be destroyed were built on wetlands, sewer lines, under electricity power lines and on road and railway servitudes. Most home-seekers bought land from land barons and were assured by the sellers that authority for building had been obtained.
Since they started building, the municipality had been issuing further warnings and telling builders about the necessary processes required, but had been ignored.
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