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Fatima Bulla-Musakwa

Details of about 6 700 out of 9 000 residential stand owners in Southlea Park, Harare South, have been submitted to the Surveyor-General, as efforts by the Second Republic to regularise illegal settlements continue.

The development is part of preparations for the Kwangu/Ngakwami Presidential Title Deeds programme rolled out in the area.

Southlea Park is one of the many settlements set to be regularised nationwide as Government accelerates efforts to meet its national housing objectives.

The initiative dovetails with the Second Republic’s goal of achieving an upper middle-class income economy by 2030.

To facilitate the process, Harare City Council has established offices in Southlea Park, designated as the district office, to register stand owners in the local authority’s database.

The Order Housing Consortium, comprising 56 companies from both the public and private sectors, is actively mobilising residents to submit the necessary data for title deeds registration.

Secretary and administrator of the consortium, Mrs Lina Madzinga, said they were working flat out to ensure everything was in order with more than a half of the residents having submitted their data already.

“The process to collect data is going on well,” she said.

“However, you also encounter challenges whereby people take time to respond, some stand owners are outside the country (while) some are deceased or divorced.

“Then there are those doubting, who might end up doing things at the last minute or when others have title deeds. But we are pulling all the strings to assist the residents.”

The Kwangu/Ngakwami Presidential Title Deeds programme enables ordinary Zimbabweans to proudly claim ownership of their houses.

Ms Lydia Nzombe of Southlea Park, who is eagerly awaiting her title deeds, praised the Second Republic for its swift movement in granting land ownership to ordinary citizens.

“It has just been a few years since President Mnangagwa has been in office, but evidence of infrastructural development is there for all to see,” she said.

Ms Rumbidzai Mapungwana, a vendor and mother of five who is building her house, said she was elated by the reality of being a landlord with title deeds.

“I am happy because I was wondering how long we were going to live on this land without papers to guarantee us title.

“This made us worry about the kind of inheritance we would leave for our children,” she said.