adminThe Rhodesia Herald, 30 October 1970
A NUMBER of African men have entered marriage contracts with their sisters or cousins for the sake of getting accommodation in the townships, it has been claimed by an African woman.
The suggestion was made yesterday by Sister EE Tsopotsa, a clinical instructress at Harari Hospital, in an interview with The Rhodesia Herald.
Sister Tsopotsa, a widow with four children, is to speak from personal experience on the problems of African women in urban life at a meeting of the Salisbury branch of the Association of University Women of Rhodesia.
The major problem facing the African woman was the acute housing situation in the townships.
Saying that the situation was better for married than single people, 40-year-old Sister Tsopotsa claimed: “This results in very unsatisfactory consequences. Some men have gone into marriage contracts with their sisters and cousins for the sake of getting accommodation.”
The housing problem also resulted in hasty marriages, said Sister Tsopotsa.
In these cases, an African woman felt insecure as she did not know whether she was being loved, or just being married because someone wanted accommodation.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
It might sound odd and an interesting read as well, but the truth is that urban housing has never been easy to acquire for people, especially those in low income groups. They do not have the collateral required by banks or building societies to enable them to get mortgages.
The older generations in high-density suburbs like Mbare, Highfield, Tafara and Mabvuku or Dzivaresekwa in Harare; Luveve, Pelandaba or Mpopoma in Bulawayo; Mkoba and Senga in Gweru; Sakubva, Chikanga and Dangamvura in Mutare or Mucheke in Masvingo can vouch to the tricks they used to obtain marriage certificates so that they could get council housing.
A marriage certificate should have been used as an added advantage for people to access housing, considering that marriage customs between indigenous people and settler colonialists were different.
Since independence, things have drastically changed, especially for people who can afford to buy their own houses in any part of the city or town. Gender and marital status are no longer considered as long as one can afford to pay for their house.
Although the scam benefited many people, it is disturbing to see how corruption has become deeply entrenched in local authorities because councils are no longer building houses for people. This has given rise to land and space barons scamming people of their hard earned money. It has seriously affected service delivery, especially water and sewer reticulation.
For historical information contact:
Zimpapers Knowledge Centre at Herald House on:
+263 8677 004323;
+263 0242 795771
E-mail: [email protected]
Online Reporter