Bulawayo residents who bought residential stands in Magwegwe West and Pumula are contemplating taking legal action after the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) demanded that they top up the money they paid for the stands in foreign currency.
Residents bought the housing stands in 2016 and are still waiting for the areas to be serviced.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) secretary for administration Thembelani Dube told <a href="https://newsday.co.zw/southerneye/local-news/article/200022036/bulawayo-council-residents-at-loggerheads-over-us-top-fees">Southern Eye on Sunday</a> that the council was changing goalposts. Said Dube:
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The top-up violates the initial agreements that the buyers had with the local authority during the time the stands were available. Any deviation from that calls for legal action.
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He said BPRA was waiting for feedback from the Government after it submitted a petition on the council’s demands.
BCC is demanding as much as US$6 000 depending on the size of the stand in top-ups.
The local authority is also threatening to repossess the land over failure to pay the fees.
Dube said the council had done nothing to develop the stands in Magwegwe West and Ntemba in Pumula, among other areas.
Bulawayo, like many urban areas in Zimbabwe, sells unserviced housing stands to desperate home-seekers due to a huge housing backlog.
Due to the unavailability of proper roads, running water and sewer systems, the quality of life for residents is compromised.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

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Bulawayo Council, Residents Clash Over US Dollar Top-up Fees

The City of Harare has only managed to allocate 56 housing stands since January this year, while the waiting list is above 11 000 active members.
In his first quarter report on Wednesday, Harare mayor Jacob Mafume described the situation as “sad”. He said:
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We managed to allocate only 56 stands since January and this is sad as the housing waiting list is standing at 11 282 active members as of December 31, 2022.
The city is finalising the human settlement policy which is coming as a review of the current housing policy.
We will then unveil the new housing models that the city will implement going forward particularly as we seek to address the outstanding issues in the pay schemes that are operational in Harare.
Going forward the city will not allocate unserviced land because this has created a lot of problems and has promoted the mushrooming of illegal settlements.
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The ever-rising housing waiting list has resulted in land barons taking advantage of desperate home-seekers by illegally percelling out State land.
It has also resulted in the sprouting of illegal settlements lacking basic amenities such as piped water, refuse collection and sewerage reticulation.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

City Of Harare Allocates 56 Stands In Five Months

Hundreds of civil servants, among them teachers, were left counting their losses after failing to get residential stands despite paying the National Housing Delivery Trust (NHDT) for the stands.
The civil servants, who paid subscriptions to buy stands from NHDT in 2012, are now desperate to get to the organisation’s offices after they did not get their residential stands.
<a href="https://masvingomirror.com/where-are-you-national-housing-delivery-trust/">The Mirror</a> reported that NHDT directors allegedly disappeared with thousands of United States dollars of civil servants’ money.
The offices of the organisation disappeared and the directors can no longer be located and stands were not delivered.
The victims of the “scam” told The Mirror that one of the NHDT directors is Goromonzi West MP and aspiring Bikita South MP, Energy Mutodi (ZANU PF) who was the chairperson.
Mutodi, however, said he left the organisation and no longer has anything to do with it. Said Mutodi:
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I left that company in 2011. I was the chairperson, but I no longer work for it. As you are aware I am a Member of Parliament and therefore am not allowed to partake in such. The director of that company is Tendai Hangadya. You can contact the person.
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He referred the publication to Tendai Hangazha whom he said is now the owner of the organisation.
The Mirror reported that repeated efforts to get through to Hangazha’s number were futile as the number was either on voicemail or went unanswered.
The letter of allocation in the hands of The Mirror indicates the directors as Alma-Louise Gordon, B Chikono, B Chifamba, E. Mutodi, K Bhotsha and OZ Gumbo who are also listed as executives.
Tawonga Musina, a lawyer said that the clients can approach the registrar’s offices for verification of the company’s registration and thereafter file a Police report.
Some of the duped civil servants have reportedly given up after trying for many years to get their money back
According to civil servants who spoke to The Mirror on condition of anonymity, the stands sold by NDHT were mainly in Masvingo and Bulawayo.
Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA) spokesperson Daisy Zambuko confirmed the “scam” but said most of those affected got their money back through the courts.
She, however, did not reveal the number of teachers from her organisation who were affected.
One of the affected teachers told The Mirror that he lost US$1 150 after paying US$100 monthly subscriptions from 2011 for a stand in Riverside.
He said the NHDT offices were at Masvingo Post Office along Emmerson D. Mnangagwa Street but the organisation left without giving any notice to clients in 2014.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Hundreds Of Civil Servants Duped In Residential Stands Deal

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)’s Commercial Crimes Unit arrested two more suspects in the Rusape Town Council stands corruption scandal.
Some senior employees in the local authority’s housing department had already been nabbed over the scandal.
Some Rusape Town Council staff members and their associates allegedly defrauded the local authority and individuals of over US$500 000 through illegal residential stands deals.
The <a href="https://www.manicapost.co.zw/rusape-stands-racket-sucks-two-more/">Manica Post</a> reported that last week, Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officers arrested two former interns who were allegedly working with former housing clerk, Jacob Chiraswa, who is on the run.
The trio allegedly duped two individuals of US$18 000 after fraudulently selling them the local authority’s stands.
The two suspects, Simbarashe Machemedze (27) and Tafadzwa Nyakuwanikwa (27) appeared separately before Rusape magistrate, Annie Ndiraya.
They were granted $50 000 bail each and remanded to 6 March.
Prosecutor, Marlon Makamba, alleged that Machemedze, working in cahoots with Chiraswa, sold a residential stand to Simbarashe Matunga after misleading him that it belonged to him (Machemedze). Said the prosecutor:
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Sometime in December 2021, Mr Matunga was looking for a residential stand in Rusape and got information that Machemedze was selling a stand.
When Mr Matunga approached him, Machemedze told him that he was selling his stand along Nyanga Drive in Rusape.
Machemedze allowed Mr Matunga to view the stand and asked for US$10 500 for it. 
Machemedze told Mr Matunga that he would facilitate the change of ownership of the said property once the whole amount was paid.
Machemedze then connived with Jacob Chiraswa and manipulated the Rusape Town Council’s filling system.
The two registered the stand into the complainant’s name to make Mr Matunga believe that the transaction was genuine.
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The matter only came to light when Matunga was about to develop the stand and was told that the stand was fraudulently transferred into his name.
He then reported the matter to the police leading to Machemedze’s arrest.
Makamba told the court that Nyakuwanikwa and Chiraswa allegedly used the same method to dupe Egypt Mashiri. He said:
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Sometime in April 2021, Nyakuwanikwa connived with Chiraswa to defraud unsuspecting home-seekers.
Chiraswa identified Stand Number 4184, Crocodile, which was among stands reserved for the council.
Nyakuwanikwa approached Mr Mashiri and advised him that Rusape Town Council was selling the said stand for US$8 000. 
Nyakuwanikwa told Mr Mashiri that the stand would be transferred into the buyer’s name immediately after the payment of the purchase price.
The complainant sourced US$7 500 from his South Africa-based brother, Mr Misheck Mashiri.
He supplied his brother’s details to the Nyakuwanikwa who then took them to Chiraswa who fraudulently changed the stand details in the council’s system into Mr Misheck Mashiri’s name.
Nyakuwanikwa and Chiraswa did not issue a receipt to Mr Mashiri and converted the money to their own use. Mr Mashiri began to construct a house on the stand.
He approached Rusape Town Council for the third stage approval of his proposed house and that is when he was advised to stop any further developments since the stand had been fraudulently issued.
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Two Interns Implicated In Rusape Residential Stands Corruption Scandal

Radar Holdings Limited – a property development and management firm – says it seeks to service close to 9 000 residential and commercial stands in Bulawayo to reduce the housing backlog which currently stands at 120 000 in Zimbabwe’s second-largest city.
In a presentation during the Africa Infrastructure and Construction Conference held in Bulawayo last Friday, Radar Holdings Limited’s finance director, Walter Zimunya, said the project also includes 14 private schools and hospitals. He said:
<blockquote>
Bulawayo is battling a housing backlog of 120 000 and Kings City seeks to help in reducing the housing shortage in accordance with Government’s economic blueprint, NDS 1.
Kings City is a 2 100-hectare premium mixed-use development in Bulawayo, about 8km outside of Bulawayo City Centre.
The project will see up to 9 000 residential stands available to the market, augmented with up to 430 light industrial stands, several shopping centres, and 14 private schools, hospitals and other facilities.
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Zimunya claimed that Radar Holdings has already started selling 500 fully serviced low-density residential stands whose size ranges from 2 000 to 4 000 square metres. He said:
<blockquote>
In 2023, a further 900 stands will be released with sizes ranging from 600-1 500 square metres.
The high development standards in Kings City remain a key driving factor in their value proposition.
The outlook is to continue to create a new standard for real estate in the country that matches international criteria and competes at the same level, which in turn assures investors and customers alike high property values and long-term returns regardless of their reason for purchase.
</blockquote>
| <a href="https://www.chronicle.co.zw/9-000-housing-commercial-stands-for-bulawayo/">Chronicle</a>

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