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The plight of women in the looming Operation Murambatsvina 2
Heal Zimbabwe
Trust
November 11, 2013
Harare City
Council is this week expected to launch a campaign to demolish illegal
structures that have mushroomed across the capital as the local
authority heeds Government’s call
to clamp down on the menace. Council has since warned residents
to move their valuables away from the illegal structures as its
team will be descending on suburbs such as Mbare, Kuwadzana, Budiriro
and Dzivaresekwa as early as Tuesday. Town Clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi
confirmed the latest development, saying the illegal structures,
which include tuckshops and unplanned houses, were causing “chaos”
in the city. “We are targeting tuckshops, unplanned buildings
and all other structures that are illegal. The sprouting of these
structures has created chaos in the city and we have been left with
no choice but to pull them down. “What we are saying as council
is if you have an illegal structure it is your duty to recover what
you can from the building before we bring it down... Sundaymail
newspaper- 10 November 2013.
HZT is disheartened
by the recent statement released in the state media that the Government
is going ahead with the demolition of houses and tuckshops in and
around Harare this week. The organization carried out a fact finding
visit to Chitungwiza in order to ascertain the effects of the proposed
demolitions on socio-economic stability in Zimbabwe. This resulted
in an assessment of the gendered effect of the demolitions.
Of the women
interviewed, one lady (named withheld) who was interviewed in Unit
A extension, is married and has three children stated that she was
affected by the 2005 Murambatsvina and the thought of another Murambatsvina
is too painful and traumatizing to even think of or begin to imagine.
The "victim reiterated that she was pregnant and residing in
Unit O when the 2005 demolitions began. To make matters worse, it
was during the cold season and there was nowhere for them to go.
It was humiliating and degrading for her family to find an alternative
1 room as shelter at her father-in-law's house. They then later
found a place to rent while processing a residential stand which
took a long time to be allocated because of the long waiting list
from council which seemed to “ignore” their pleas. It
was only in June 2013 that they managed to acquire a piece of land
from their meagre salaries through Frederick Mabamba a Zanu-PF councilor
who owns most properties and housing cooperatives in Chitungwiza,
who allocated the land on the "illegal" sites in Unit
A extension. During the period her family acquired the residential
stand to date, they have managed to construct a two-roomed house
which they are currently occupying.
She expressed concern and worry over the looming demolitions which
will have a negative impact on her life. Among her concerns was
the issue of becoming a lodger once again, issue of scarce accommodation
and an increase in rentals because 4000 houses means 4000 plus families
will be in need of accommodation. Further, her children will have
to be transferred from school and get accustomed to a new learning
environment, which may affect their performance. The demolitions
come at a time when her family is still rejoicing at the fact that
they now have their own place to stay and can plan for other socio-economic
concerns such as farming. She further mourned that in the event
that they are displaced, they have nowhere to go and this has traumatized
her husband to such an extent that he no longer has peace of mind
and cannot eat nor sleep well. It is her only hope that Government
provides an alternative solution, either it offers them alternative
accommodation or compensate them for the money they spent on the
stand or help the family to regularize the residential stand in
line with the Government's expectations.
It is saddening
to note that most women like her have to suffer the burden of being
a woman, a mother and a wife in such a situation and are expected
to offer emotional support to the family yet they are also victims
of the Murambatsvina. Some of the women interviewed bemoaned that
the operation will heavily affect relationships established in the
communities and sources of livelihoods as well as social service
benefits like Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM). Some of
the families affected have been staying in those areas for the past
7 years and it is astonishing and disheartening to note that the
Government has only realized now that they are illegally settled
yet at the same time it does not have a solution to their problem
but only to leave them homeless. The plight of women must therefore
be given careful consideration before any initiative is taken into
action by the Government.
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Zimbabwe fact
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