The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has upped its drive towards penalising and ordering demolitions to all illegal structures in the city, with more than 100 properties having been issued with notices last year.
Last year the local authority’s building inspection department went on a blitz against illegal structures that were cropping up in the city without the necessary paperwork. Council has latitude in terms of statutory provisions to remove the offending danger or nuisance to the public at the cost of the landlord.
This avenue has, however, not been effectively pursued in the city in view of lack of specific resources that were required to undertake the costly work of clearing the sites and effecting demolitions.
According to various council reports for last year, the local authority issued notices to 103 houses and 29 churches in the city. The huge chunk of the houses are 26 which are part of the rent-a-roof scheme in Cowdray Park. Also included in the blitz was a property owned by Ward 14 Councillor, MacDonald Chunga in Selbourne Park.
“The Director of Housing and Community Services (Mr Dictor Khumalo) reported that in terms of the model building by-laws (1977), no construction should be done without approved plans and requisite inspections by council.
As such the developments should be regularised if they meet all council by-laws and policies subject to relevant penalties paid. If they could not comply, then the development had to be removed accordingly. The department had carried routine inspections around the city.
Appropriate 21 days notices had been issued. If no corrective action was taken penalties would be charged and where appropriate demolishing procedures instituted,” reads one of the council reports.
Councillors also weighed in, in support of the blitz noting that this was a worrying trend especially when the church is supposed to be preaching legality.
“We shouldn’t even be considering giving them a 21-day notice, we should be descending hard on these churches because how honestly do they build an illegal structure when we all trust them as the custodians of honesty,” said Alderman Monica Lubimbi.
In January last year, council increased the penalties meant to be paid by individuals or organisations that proceeded to construct illegal structures in a bid to deter the practice and ensure that all laid down procedures were adhered to.
“Council had been charging a regularisation fee of US$381 or equivalent in ZW$ to permits that were being issued on existing developments, these were developments or businesses which had been established without Council authority.
Due to the increase in numbers of applications that were now being subjected to regularisation fee, there had been a need to review the respective fee to US$800 or equivalent in ZW$ as to try and discourage the establishment of businesses and developments without Council authority within the City.
The revised regularisation fee had been tabled before the Tariff Committee. The revised regularisation fee was now US$1 000 or equivalent in ZW$,” reads the council report.
