Back to Index

Residents Voices - Issue 84
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
October 26, 2012

Dozens of residents from Emganwini's Millenium Housing Scheme area in Bulawayo earlier today besieged Nketa Housing Offices demanding title deeds for the houses they occupy and protesting the monthly rentals they are paying. After the demonstration, they left letters addressed to Bulawayo Mayor, Councilor Thaba Moyo, Town Clerk Middleton Nyoni and the city's Director of Housing and Community Services, Isaiah Magagula stating their demands. A copy of the letter was also forwarded to the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA).

In the letter, the residents said they felt aggrieved by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) which they accused of fleecing them by demanding payment for houses whose cost they said was covered by donors. They argued that the Millennium Housing Scheme was aimed at improving the livelihood of poor residents who were living in squalor at Sidojiwe Hostels following intervention by donors who financed the whole project. The residents thus argued that they were not meant to be paying rentals for the houses, since the cost of the houses was covered by donors, not the local authority.

In interviews during the demonstration, the residents revealed that they had resorted to staging a demonstration after efforts to engage in dialogue with the Mayor on the issue proved fruitless.

"We held a meeting with the Mayor more than a month ago, and he promised that he would facilitate a meeting between us (Emganwini Millenium Housing residents' leaders) and BCC officials including himself, the director of housing and the director of financial services. He said he was going to contact us, but until now, we haven't heard from him," said one of the residents' leaders who declined to be named. "This demonstration is therefore an attempt to get the attention of the council on this issue, so that something is done to immediately solve the problem," she said.

The residents revealed that they had accrued massive bills due to the monthly rentals they pay over and above service charges, which are pegged at $42 per month. As a result, they said most of them had had their water disconnected on numerous occasions and lived in fear of having their property seized by the local authority for failure to pay the rentals.

While BPRA does not have BCC's side on the issue, the association is taking the demands of the residents seriously and believes that it is important for BCC to move swiftly towards addressing the concerns of the residents. BPRA is concerned that there seem to be information gaps on the handling of the Millenium Housing Scheme in Emganwini which could have compromised transparency and accountability in the scheme. The association thus calls upon BCC to immediately avail information on what the Millenium Housing Scheme entailed and also address the residents of Emganwini on their concerns.

Visit the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP