Nyore Madzianike in KADOMA
A GOVERNMENT review of half-century-old building by-laws will culminate in a new, updated National Building Code designed to modernise construction standards and integrate contemporary technologies.
Acting President Dr Kembo Mohadi announced the legal overhaul during the ground-breaking ceremony for the Great Dyke Smart City project and the belated World Habitat Day commemorations in Kadoma.
He emphasised that the State remains fully committed to fostering an enabling regulatory environment for accelerated housing delivery.
“Through commercially viable joint ventures and public-private partnerships, Government can mobilise the investment required to accelerate housing delivery under NDS2,” Acting President Mohadi stated.
He called on engineers, local authorities and built-environment professionals to actively participate in technical committees formulating the code.
“The Government has also begun reviewing building by-laws and developing a National Building Code. This reform is intended to strengthen consistency in building standards, improve safety and quality and respond to evolving construction technologies and contemporary settlement requirements,” he said.
The Acting President further stressed that national spatial planning must protect productive agricultural land, while driving efficient urban densification to safeguard future generations.
National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Professor Paul Mavima highlighted that achieving Zimbabwe’s economic goals relies heavily on infrastructure development.
“There is no upper-middle-income status without planned, modern, affordable and adequate settlements,” Minister Mavima said.
He noted that under the National Development Strategy 2, the State has committed to an achievable target of delivering one million housing units by 2030.
Citing UN-Habitat standards, he added that adequate housing must extend beyond a physical structure to encompass security of tenure, affordability, habitability, and access to basic services, including high-speed internet.
The Great Dyke Smart City project, spearheaded by Develop-It Zimbabwe (Private) Limited in partnership with local authorities, intends to deliver 6 000 houses and flats within six months.
Develop-It Zimbabwe director Dr Samuel Mudavanhu stated that the project directly aligns with NDS2 infrastructure priorities, provincial growth strategies, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 for sustainable cities.
Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Marian Chombo, commended the ongoing Presidential Title Deeds Programme at the event, urging stakeholders to use the project’s launch as a strict call to action to eliminate illegal land allocation and dismantle corrupt land barons.
