Online Reporter
Herald Reporter
The planned eviction of traders operating at the Kuwadzana 1 Home Industry has been temporarily halted following intervention by City of Harare Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Committee chairperson and Ward 16 Councillor Denford Ngadziore.
Cllr Ngadziore visited the traders on Friday after they raised alarm over a 48-hour eviction notice issued by the City of Harare’s Department of Urban Planning Services.
He said he had engaged officials from the departments of planning, housing and SMEs/markets, resulting in the suspension of the planned eviction while a lasting solution is being worked out.
“There was an outcry over the evictions and possible demolitions that were looming. They had been given a 48-hour deadline and the evictions were supposed to happen last Wednesday,” said Cllr Ngadziore.
“I engaged the council officials from planning and housing and we managed to stop the evictions. The departments of housing, SMEs and markets and planning then had a meeting and agreed that there is a plan to move the home industry to a two-hectare piece of land which is very close to the current home industry.”
According to Cllr Ngadziore, the proposed relocation site now has to undergo surveying before individual working spaces can be allocated to the traders.
“I saw the plan, but now this plan has to go to survey. The director of urban planning assured me that within 30 days this plan would have gone to survey and we will have a way forward,” he said.
He said the proposed plan would see the home industry relocated closer to the road, with provision also being made for a park and a stadium.
“After the survey, the home industry traders will be allocated their working spaces. The home industry will now be moved closer to the road, then after that there is a space for a park and then there is a space for a stadium,” he said.
Cllr Ngadziore said the SMEs/Markets Department would subsequently be expected to issue leases to individual stall holders through the Kuwadzana 1 Home Industry Traders Committee.
He said the process should be guided by dialogue and due process, rather than forced evictions.
“The way forward can only be achieved through dialogue and through a court order. What we do not want is for people to be victimised,” he said.
The intervention has brought temporary relief to traders who say they have operated at the site for decades and have consistently paid fees to the local authority.
However, some traders remain opposed to the proposed relocation, arguing that moving them from their established location could disrupt their businesses and separate them from their established customer base.
Mr Paradzai Masasi said some traders had been operating at the site for between 26 and 30 years.
“Being moved from where we are now is totally not acceptable. Our customers know our stalls where we are operating from. Some of us have been here for the past 26 to 30 years and we have religiously paid the City of Harare,” he said.
Mr Masasi said the land had previously been earmarked for residential stands before being designated for service industry activities.
“This area was first said to be stands and there was a resolution to make this a service industry area. We were displaced around 2005 and this was fixed and we were told this was now a service industry,” he said.
“Now they want to put stands again. This is totally unacceptable. We are saying that we want to work towards Vision 2030.”
He also expressed concern over the size of the proposed working spaces, saying some traders were already struggling with limited space at their existing stalls.
“As it stands, the stalls that people already have are small and many traders cannot fit their stuff. If we are to be moved, I am sure we will get even smaller stalls. That area cannot be more than one hectare, which is not fair,” he said.
Kuwadzana 1 Home Industry Traders Committee chairperson Mr Morgan Chikunga appealed to Government to intervene, saying the businesses had become a source of livelihoods for families who had worked at the site for many years.
“We are moving with the Government’s Vision 2030 and we want to contribute to the economy. This is why we have been religiously paying to the City of Harare and we pay our taxes,” he said.
Mr Chikunga questioned why the traders could not remain at their current location while council worked on proper planning.
“Because of underhand deals, we are now being told to leave this area. Why can’t they plan the houses where they want us to go? If they remove us from here, they would have killed us. This is our livelihood. For generations we have been here,” he said.
The dispute comes as Government continues to promote the development of micro, small and medium enterprises as an important component of economic growth, employment creation and industrialisation.
The traders say their businesses are contributing to the local economy through manufacturing, repairs, carpentry, metal fabrication and other services, while providing employment and supporting household incomes.
The City of Harare, meanwhile, has been intensifying enforcement of planning regulations and addressing developments it considers unauthorised as part of efforts to restore order and ensure compliance with approved land-use plans.
The original 48-hour notice issued by the Department of Urban Planning Services cited an inspection conducted on July 7 which identified what the council described as “illegal developments” on Stand 1-101, Kuwadzana 1 Township.
The notice listed workshops, timber, fencing, toilets, boreholes, changing rooms and containers among the developments found on the site.
For now, the planned enforcement action has been suspended, with the focus shifting to surveying the proposed two-hectare site and engaging the affected traders.
Cllr Ngadziore said the objective was to ensure that the matter was resolved without victimising the traders while allowing council to enforce proper urban planning and development standards.
The traders are now waiting for the surveying process and further engagement with the relevant council departments, with the proposed relocation likely to remain contentious until details of the new site, individual spaces and leases are finalised.
