Sundaymail Editor
Theseus Shambare
GOGO Spiwe Mahlangu’s hands tremble as she points to the imposing wall that now encircles her former home.
“They took everything. My house, my belongings, my dignity . . . ,” she whispers, her voice barely audible above the rustling wind through the sparse remains of her once-fruitful orchard.
For 24 years, this patch of Overspill, Epworth, had been her sanctuary.
Now, it is a gated compound belonging to a religious group, a symbol of the land disputes tearing this community apart.
Epworth, a town born from a Methodist Church mission in 1890, has a history as complex as its present.
Initially a haven for African converts, it swelled beyond its mission boundaries, spawning informal settlements like Overspill and Chinamano.
These communities, while vibrant, have long wrestled with crumbling infrastructure, poverty and a tangled web of land ownership claims.
While residents claim they have strived for formal recognition — since the turn of the new millennium, participating in enumerations and funding layout plans — their efforts seem to have come to nought.
At the centre of these controversies was the previously opposition-dominated Epworth Local Board, which, working with some rogue elements, including individuals claiming to be police, is alleged to have been involved in shady land deals.
Intimidation
Gogo Mahlangu’s story is a chilling testament to this struggle.
In 2019, her five-room house, built with her own hands and filled with decades of memories, was seized.
“They came at night; men with pistols. They said they were police, but . . . ,” she recounted before her voice trailed off.
The image of men bursting into her home, throwing her possessions onto the street, remains etched in her memory.
“They destroyed everything. My furniture, my clothes, my family photos, even my fruit trees — mangoes, avocados — which were a part of my survival,” she added, her voice cracking.
Now, Gogo Mahlangu lives in a “borrowed” room and her future is uncertain.
The yellow council card she holds, a symbol of her claim to the land, feels like a cruel joke.
“It is just a piece of paper. It means nothing anymore.”
She passes her former home almost daily with the high walls now a constant reminder of her loss.
Annah Mutepende (65) knows this pain all too well.
Her stand, located behind Overspill shops, was also seized, a familiar story in this community.
“They built a shop on my land. I can barely get to my own house now,” she said, gesturing towards a bustling commercial building.
She has seemingly resigned to fate.
“I have tried to fight, but it is like talking to a wall,” said Mutepende.
Emmanuel Masendeke (72), a resident since 1997, faces a different kind of struggle. His stand was divided and given to two newcomers.
He showed The Sunday Mail Society a worn rate payment receipt as a testament to his longstanding connection to the land.
“One built behind my house, the other in front. In 2022, the two people who had invaded my stand tried to take over my house, claiming the land belonged to them,” he revealed.
One of the new landowners, he added, came with a group of machete-wielding men.
“They threatened to kill me. What could I do? I had to protect my wife; she was very sick then,” he recounted, his eyes filled with fear.
His wife died a few days after the incident.
Now, Masendeke’s home is hemmed in.
He and his 15 grandchildren endure the stench of raw sewage flowing from the “new” neighbour’s property due to poor setting of the sewer system.
However, Harare province police spokesperson Inspector Luckmore Chakanza said: “We do not have any case(s) of that nature that we have handled.”
He added: “Usually, issues to do with land disputes are handled at the national level, and that is where the decision is made on how the police can assist the local authority in handling any conflict to avoid the commission of crime.”
Prevalence
These cases are not the only ones.
The Kushinga Epworth Residents Trust (KERT) and the Epworth Urban Residents Association (EURA) estimate that over 300 residents have been affected by similar land disputes.
They accuse the Epworth Local Board of orchestrating these displacements, driven by corruption and a blatant disregard for due process.
“The local board is acting like they are above the law. We have three High Court orders in our favour, yet they continue to ignore them,” said John Mabwe, a representative of both KERT and EURA.
A stack of documents in his possession is evidence of the legal battles the residents have fought, often at their own expense.
“They use our rates money to pay their lawyers. It is a complete betrayal of the community,” he said, his voice filled with anger.
KERT and EURA allege that the board has misappropriated funds and illegally sold stands. They claim title deeds have been issued to individuals who have no legitimate claim to the land, further complicating the already tangled ownership issues.
“Formalisation of our settlement was meant for those who were already occupying this land, but as we speak, wherever you hear a conflict, it is between a newcomer and the former landowner,” notes Mabwe.
They also raise concerns about the use of unapproved layout plans, including the contested layout plan (HOF 7 SL 872) in the regularisation process.
“They (local board) are using these discrepancies to justify evictions. It is a systematic attempt to dispossess the residents of their land,” he added.
Procedure
In an interview with The Sunday Mail Society, Epworth Local Board secretary Dr Wilton Mhanda counter-argued that the regularisation exercise was initiated by the residents themselves, who approached the Government for security of tenure.
“The exercise started with the physical planning and the University of Zimbabwe was also involved, along with the Dialogue on Shelter and the residents themselves. So, everybody was involved,” Dr Mhanda said.
He emphasised that the process sought to benefit those who were on the ground when the project started and that no one was displaced.
“The purpose was really to regularise so that they could stay in areas which are well-planned and well-documented. We do not have any case of displacement,” he said.
Addressing claims of residents paying rates since 2001, he said these payments were development levies, not rates, and covered services like schools and clinics.
He further explained the allocation process for stands.
“Any person who would have paid for regularisation would be allocated a stand. And this is done in conjunction with the community itself.
“And anybody who does not pay for regularisation will not be given first priority to be allocated a stand,” he explained.
He suggested that the cases highlighted by the residents’ associations might involve individuals who did not pay for regularisation.
Dr Mhanda also highlighted that the residents’ associations had lost multiple cases.
“The two associations have lost their cases in the courts of law. They are not citing the cases in which they lost, preferring to show you just one side,” he said.
He attributed the residents’ focus on the local board to a misunderstanding of the regularisation process, which he emphasised was initiated by the residents themselves.
Regarding the contested layout plan (HOF 7 SL 872), the Epworth Local Board denied any falsification of documents.
“We have no interest in falsifying documents. The documents, the maps which we are actually using, are official State maps, which came from the Surveyor-General under the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works. They are approved layout maps, which stem from the Government,” said Dr Mhanda.
Intervention
Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe said they previously sent investigation teams to Epworth to look into some of these allegations.
In instances where allegations were criminal in nature, he said, law-enforcement agencies were brought in to investigate.
“The ministry approved a request from the Epworth Local Board to partner with residents in affected areas to embark on an in-situ regularisation of informal settlements, popularly known as ‘Magada’,” he said.
The programme started with a baseline survey meant to establish the status on the ground, such as the number of households in the targeted area and the available landmass to determine stand sizes.
According to the minister, the exercise was intended to have minimal disruptions, with only those affected by reservations for school sites, road servitudes and other institutional provisions being relocated to properly planned stands.
“We are aware that there have been claims, specifically by the Kushinga Epworth Residents Trust and the Epworth Urban Residents Association, that the Epworth Local Board has been disregarding court orders and using unapproved layout plans like HOF7 and HOF8,” said Minister Garwe.
“This claim is not true, and these groups have taken the board, the town secretary and some of the officials to court on the same allegations.
“Although the cases against the town secretary and housing manager were dropped midway through the cases, the litigation resulted in court orders HC673/22, which was replaced by HCH1748/23 on application for contempt by the same applicants.”
It is reported that HCH1748/23 directed the appointment of a qualified surveyor in terms of Section 19A of the High Court Act (Chapter 7:06).
The applicants lost the case at the High Court on January 22, 2025, in terms of Rule 60(17) of the High Court Rules, 2021.
Based on this, the Epworth Local Board considers itself not to be in contempt of any order and notes that there are no pending cases related to the allegations.
“The ministry views the regularisation of informal settlements in Epworth as a lasting solution to the problems plaguing the area.
“The regularisation of all habitable spaces, except wetlands and historical sites, will stem the systemic land invasions in Epworth,” added the minister.
The Presidential Title Deeds Programme has been instrumental in giving security of tenure to Epworth residents, as well as those of other towns in all provinces. For Epworth, the programme is also extending to the provision of other services such as roads, water and sewer reticulation, and treatment works.
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Tinaye Agere
Online Reporter