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Sydney Kawadza Mashonaland West Bureau Chief

An out-of-court settlement deal by the Zvimba Rural District Council to compensate a private land owner who lost a 71,5-hectare piece of land could have cost Government of State land worth more than US$29 million, the Commission of Inquiry on Urban Land has heard.

Local Government, Public Works and National Housing chief director Mr Christopher Shumba told the Commission on Monday that the then Zvimba RDC’s planner and former chief executive Mr Peter Hlohla encroached into the privately-own Blackdawn Estates while pegging stands. He said Mr Hlohla gave a company 150 hectares of State land as compensation in an out-of-court settlement.

Mr Shumba said Zvimba RDC gave up the land consisting of 1 954 residential stands, a stadium, a commercial stand and an industrial stand. He further argued that the “dubious” deal was inked without Government evaluators to verify the land lost after council encroached into the private land which was valued at US$4,4m by the proprietor.

“We have had a lot of these problems in Zvimba RDC,” said Mr Shumba. “They went to Reinham to try and develop stands and encroached into private land where they started pegging stands.

“They got into a dispute and were taken to court before going into an out of court settlement agreement with the owner of a piece of land that was not acquired by the State for development.”

Mr Shumba said Blackdawn Investments lost a butchery, compound and some grazing land because of the encroachment and the local authority offered a piece of land which they had identified for urban development in Nyabira. “That owner whose land was invaded for settlement now wants to get title deeds for State land because that piece of land (he lost) had title deeds,” he said.

Mr Shumba told the commission that Mr Hlohla had illegally pegged stands on Lot 2A of Reinham belonging to Blackdawn.

He then recommended that there be a land swap and Blackdawn got Stand No. 968 of Lilfordia B Farm in Nyabira.

“The out-of-settlement was actually done in 2013 and they actually went into a settlement with ‘a pie-in-the-sky’ to say ‘don’t worry about the land we have taken, we will get you land elsewhere’ and eventually they got land,” he said.

Mr Shumba said the same piece of land given to Blackdawn Investment had been given to property developers by Government, but council kicked them out.

“Zvimba offered Blackdawn 150ha of land that has an excess of 1 954 stands plus a stadium, business stand, industrial stand to compensate for just 71ha dubiously valued at US$4,4m because there is no Government valuation,” he said.

The 1 954 stands – without considering the business centre, industrial stand and stadium – are at a cost of US$15 000 each. This would add up to about US$29m meant to compensate for US$4,4m land which had been given out without Government evaluators.”Mr Shumba said the case could be reported to the police as a criminal case.