86% of rooms destroyed had access to electricity Quality of building destroyed 155 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 15 20 7 1 0 brick/mortar under iron/asbestos pole/mud under iron sides and iron roof not known type of material The demolition of such buildings in the name of slum clearance only serves to illustrate the point made by the UN report – Zimbabwe has one of the lowest figures for genuine slums in Africa, and fewer slums than in many European countries; if a dwelling has access to fresh water and sewerage and is built of brick and mortar, it does not qualify for the definition of “slum”.93 In conclusion: in 87% of cases in these two Bulawayo suburbs, the government did not demolish slums, but living space of a high standard. Occupants of the buildings demolished The following information pertains only to those who were living in the 171 demolished rooms used for accommodation purposes, and not to occupants of the main structures on each of the 89 stands. • 432 people lived in 171 backyard rooms on 89 stands o 133 were children aged under 16 o 299 were adults • 4,85 people were displaced on average per stand o An average of 2,52 people per room were displaced 92 These are minimum assumptions: we do not know what 15 rooms were built of and have assumed they were not of high quality in this calculation. 93 The UN report made the point that in Zimbabwe, prior to the demolitions, only 3,6% of housing would have constituted the UN Habitat definition of slums, giving it fewer slums than many EU nations. 40