Govt starts Hlalani Kuhle stands audit

There has been growing concern from residents after Hlalani Kuhle officials repossessed about 2 300 stands from beneficiaries in the suburb, reportedly on the grounds they were not paying developmental fees to the consortium.
Residents appealed to the Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Dr Ignatius Chombo to intervene, saying officials at the Hlalani Kuhle housing project were double-crossing them.
They said most stands were now multiple owned.
Minister Chombo ordered that repossession of stands should stop and the Bulawayo Home Seekers Consortium Trust (BHSCT) last week said it had stopped repossessing them.
The Hlalani Kuhle officials said those affected would be given some stands, if they were willing.
Stakeholders in the housing project who include the council, Hlalani Kuhle officials, the BHSCT and the Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities reportedly met last week to map the way forward. BHSCT project co-ordinator Mr Mkhululi Nyathi yesterday evening confirmed stakeholders would start an audit this morning.
“We are trying to manage the misrepresentation and we are going ahead with the process of correcting the situation,” said Mr Nyathi.
“We have discovered the list of beneficiaries has not been updated hence the need to update it with the council. We are having an allocation audit to establish who is there on a particular stand and compare lists.”
He said the process would target all the stands so that no beneficiary would remain disgruntled.
“It is not our intention to take away people’s stands but we want all those affected to benefit. We are starting in the morning because we want to go through all the stands,” he said.
In a separate interview, the Governor and Resident Minister for Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, Ambassador Cain Mathema, said they met the council and agreed that more land should be availed for housing stands.
“Bulawayo’s housing waiting list is more than 100 000 and what I want to put clearly is that everyone will get a stand. I met the Mayor, Councillor Thaba Moyo, and he promised there is enough land for more stands. He said land was there and they would avail an extra 2 000 stands for Cowdray Park residents,” said Ambassador Mathema.
He urged the local authority not to wait for the land to be serviced but avail it to residents so that they are involved in development.
“We have always talked to council. Its only that they would want to wait until they service land before allocating stands to people. We have companies that are prepared to service land for housing stands and the council should give people stands so that they know which stands are theirs while servicing takes place,” Ambassador Mathema said.
He castigated politicising the project and urged residents and the BHSCT to sit down and iron out their problems.
Ambassador Mathema challenged beneficiaries to honour the project by developing housing stands allocated to them to avoid losing them.
He said officials would not hesitate to take away stands from those not developing them and give to deserving ones.
“It is important for beneficiaries to note that when they are given stands they should develop them as prescribed, normally within two years.
“Some of the stands were now like a bush because they had grown trees yet they are said to have owners. Such stands would be taken and given to those that are serious and those that are not serious should not even bother coming to my office,” said Ambassador Mathema.
He said repossessing stands was not unique to Bulawayo but across the country and urged beneficiaries to pay subscription fees as required by the consortium for development of services.
Ward 28 Councillor, Collet Ndhlovu, in whose area Cowdray Park falls, said there was land set aside for the affected beneficiaries.
“The council, Hlalani Kuhle officials, the consortium and National Housing and Social Amenities met to make a follow up to a meeting that we held in November last year,” he said.
“It was agreed that there is a need for an audit of the stands so that whatever issues that are a problem like who owns the said multiple owned stands are clarified.”
Clr Ndhlovu said it was agreed beneficiaries should not lose their stands but be encouraged to pay subscriptions and developmental fees.
“The council has always been willing to avail more land for housing stands. There is land in Pumula South, Emganwini, Magwegwe North but the one in Cowdray Park was set aside specifically for the Hlalani Kuhle project and the council needed consent from all other parties. There could be between 1 500 and 2 000 stands that could be availed in Cowdray Park,” he said.
The consortium last week expressed concern that only 20 percent of the 7 860 beneficiaries were contributing towards the servicing of their stands.