hoped to build up to 300 houses in Bulawayo, but were only offered 33 serviced stands by the
BCC. They have now been offered land to build several blocks of apartments, which they now
plan to do in the future.
The upshot of all this, is that in the last five years, only 33 houses have been built in
Bulawayo, to replace the 10,870 structures that were demolished. While the 33
beneficiary families are delighted, the fact remains that hundreds of families in Killarney face
eviction yet again as this report is being written, and have no reasonable prospects of ever
having security of tenure anywhere in Zimbabwe in their lifetimes.
3.
Demolitions continue – under MDC T city council
In Victoria Falls, arguably the urban centre worst affected by OM in that 64% of all its
accommodation was demolished in 2005, the demolitions have continued. However, it is now
the MDC T City Council that is responsible. Last year, people who own stands in Victoria Falls
were given six months to construct a permanent structure, or face demolition of whatever
temporary structures were on the properties. However, according to those who own the
stands, this is unreasonable in the current economic climate. They lost all their building
materials and many other possessions in 2005, and recapitalising since then has been near to
impossible. They are therefore facing repeated cycles of demolitions – with the most recent
one taking place on Christmas Eve, 24th December 2009! The anguish that residents feel at
this heartless insult is tangible. The outcome is simply that people in Victoria Falls are in fact
living in more basic structures now than ever, out of fear of yet again having these structures
demolished.
4.
Conclusion
Put simply, the 560,000 displaced have not been re‐housed, and this failure extends to a
failure of international agencies to house more than a few thousand people countrywide. It
also extends to a failure of the current unity government to address the issue. The MDC‐run
Ministry of Housing has failed to change in any visible way any aspect of housing policy, and
demolitions have even continued. The evicted have been left to fall back on their own
resources to solve the problems of housing and livelihood – which, particularly since 2008,
has happened by a surge in diasporisation and also in a belated movement to rural areas.
Photos 8 and 9: July 2010 IOM has built 33 houses in Bulawayo since 2005 (on left), and around
80 houses in Hopley Farm, Harare (on right).
28
Select target paragraph3
Add to table of contents