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Herald Reporter
The process of regularising settlements in Harare South Constituency hit a brick wall after land barons in the area attacked a geographic information system (GIS) team deployed by council to assess the situation.

The city intends to move people who built on road reserves and land meant for schools and hospitals.

Housing and Community Services director Mr Edmore Nhekairo told the Education, Health, Housing and Community Services and Licensing Committee that he had engaged Harare South legislator Cde Tongai Mnangagwa and Ward 1 Councillor Tendai Katsaria to map the way forward and negotiations were still underway.

Last year, Clr Katsaria was reportedly attacked by residents in Hopley and sustained head injuries while he was in the company of officials from the city’s Works Department, who were trying to find ways of regularising residential stands in that area.

“The director of Housing and Community Services reported that the director of Works (Engineer Zvenyika Chawatama) had deployed a GIS team to assess the situation on the ground so as to superimpose it on the layout plan. Those on the road reserves and reserves for other infrastructure will be moved,” read the minutes.

“However, progress had been halted by land barons. He had engaged the local councillors and the MP to map the way forward and negotiations were underway.”

Arising from the discussion, the committee also enquired on progress on the relocation of people who were settled on land which could be regularised as well as those on land which could be regularised.

Mr Nhekairo reported that he was carrying out an exercise on regularisation with the Works Department and a comprehensive report would submitted to the committee by June 2019.

The committee expressed the need for the Department of Works to charge heavy penalties for people settled illegally. Arising from the same discussion, the committee expressed concern that some people on the land which could be regularised could not afford to pay regularisation fees.

“The director of Housing and Community Services reported that everyone was supposed to meet the terms and conditions in order to be regularised and this included paying the regularisation fees, land intrinsic value as well as the housing scheme administration fees. Failure to adhere to that would result in one losing the stand.

Council resolved that Mr Nhekairo submits a comprehensive status report on double allocations and regularisations of illegal land occupiers.