Govt to assist 1 500 families facing eviction

Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Reporter
Government says it will intervene to spare 1 500 families who were given a 30-day ultimatum by the Supreme Court to vacate a farm belonging to Mr Pieter Nicholas Neil in Norton.
Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Ignatius Chombo said his ministry would look into the matter to find ways of assisting the families.

He said he had since assigned officers from his ministry to get the details to enable him to take appropriate action.
“Surely, people cannot simply be booted out without alternative land. I have assigned some officers to investigate how the transactions were done between Norton Town Council and the housing co-operative.

“If there were irregularities, we will find out if the process can be rectified, considering that Government has power to acquire land at any time for any purpose, but I am yet to get the details of the matter before we decide on what action to take.”

Norton legislator Cde Chris Mutsvangwa, who is also Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister, said his constituency respected the law and the relevant Government departments were the ones that erred in the allocation of the land.

He said he was engaging Government to assist the affected families.
“The Norton community is law- abiding which respects private property and pertinent court rulings,” said Cde Mutsvangwa.
“It has no ill feelings against Neil winning the case. Obviously, relevant Government departments erred in the original allocation of the land to the co-operative, hence there was common cause in court with the co-operative members.

“I am engaging Government for appropriate redress for the disappointed home seekers.”
The families yesterday appealed for Government intervention to save them from becoming destitute.

The members of Kingsdale Housing Co-operative had been given the land by the Government, but the donation was invalidated by the court.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted Mr Neil’s application to nullify the acquisition of Kingsdale Farm after it emerged that the land had been illegally acquired from him.

When The Herald visited the farm yesterday, the affected family members were stressed, asking for Government intervention.
There was dead silence at the farm, as the occupants were pondering their next move.

Mr Alexander Masamba, who had just completed building a five-roomed house on the farm, called for Government intervention, saying the eviction would be a big loss to him.

“I spent almost US$9 000 on this structure (house) and I stay here with my family of nine,” he said.
“I cannot go back to other locations to pay rent. With my big family, where can I go? After all, it is not easy to move my children from their schools at this time of the year. I believe the judgment cannot be reversed, but Government should assist us through engaging Mr Neil for some negotiations on how he can accommodate us.”

Mr Brian Madzima said he completed building his house in February and was surprised to be informed of the judgment.
He said the housing co-operative leaders were handling the matter without updating them.

“I started staying here after spending thousands of dollars in building this house,” said Mr Madzima.
“I had to sink a borehole and to develop this stand at a cost, but today I am being told to vacate in 30 days.”

Mr Madzima suggested that Government should provide them with alternative land for housing if negotiations with Mr Neil failed.
Ms Portia Chabata said Government should help them considering that it had donated the land to the housing co-operative.
“We did not come here on our own,” she said.

“Government brought us here and we strongly believed that everything was above board and we used to pay some subscriptions as required by the co-operative.

“We were allocated this land by Government and something should be done to save us from being vagrants.”
Mr Dennis Mazokera said he was in the process of building a four-roomed house when the judgment was handed down.
“I am still building as you can see and we are at roof level,” he said.

“I have spent a fortune on this stand and the structure now faces demolition before I even occupy the house.”