At about 5 a.m. on Friday, August 14, bulldozers and municipal police began tearing down homes in St Martins Extension, a suburb of Harare. The operation, aimed at enforcing planning regulations, has left dozens of families without shelter after years of hard work and savings.
One of those affected is Methro Masunga, a 28‑year‑old single mother of three. She had spent five years working part‑time cleaning and washing dishes in other people’s houses, saving every penny to buy a residential stand. In 2015 she paid a deposit, and by 2019 she received an allocation from the city council. The arrangement was formalised in 2020 when residents began receiving official documents.
“I thought they were here for some other business, probably land development or road grading; alas, they had been sent to destroy our homes,” Masunga told Al Jazeera. She now stands among the remains of her house, her dream of home ownership shattered.
The demolitions are part of a broader dispute over land allocations in Harare. Residents claim they bought stands through council‑linked processes and invested their savings in building homes. The municipality, however, says it is enforcing planning regulations against structures built without the necessary approvals or on land not designated for housing.
City council records show more than 5,000 houses are facing demolition under 37 outstanding High Court orders. A council task force has inspected 22,255 sites to identify structures on prohibited or unauthorised land. Authorities say the demolitions aim to address illegal construction, disputed land sales and development on sites reserved for public infrastructure.
Memory Chengeta, whose house in St Martins was also demolished, expressed confusion over the operation. “There was a court order for them to stop demolitions. The municipal authorities came with no court order that overturned the previous judgement, but went ahead to destroy the properties,” she said. Chengeta, a former street food vendor who had saved to build a more stable life, is now homeless. Some affected residents have returned to renting, while others, including Chengeta and Masunga, have remained in St Martins, putting up makeshift shelters rather than leaving the area.
Source: Al Jazeera
Read the original article
Editorial note: This is an original news report prepared from the attributed source material with AI assistance. It is not a reproduction or translation of the original article.
