The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
RESIDENTS of Thokozani Flats in Mzilikazi, Bulawayo have clashed with authorities at Lobengula Primary School over a piece of land which they have been using to illegally conduct farming activities, despite the school having been awarded the land for the establishment of sporting facilities.
The piece of land has further been mapped by council as a wetland. The Bulawayo City Council awarded the land to the school after receiving the necessary applications, saying the school will have the task of coming up with a plan on how it will handle the ecologically sensitive area.
Some of the residents last week claimed that school authorities have since encroached into a breather zone which was not meant for occupation.
“We were told that the school bought the land which is outside the school perimeter from the Bulawayo City Council, claiming they wanted to establish sporting facilities.
What surprises us is that there was never any formal communication from the local authority and efforts to get them to clarify on this has proven fruitless.
“What also makes us doubt the school’s assertion is that the area which they are referring to is a known wetland and instead of establishing the so-called sporting facility, the school head has been farming, therefore we suspect foul play, we have even reported this matter to the Environmental Management Agency,” said Mr Misheck Gumbo the Mzilikazi Residents’ Association organising secretary.
However, council corporate communications manager Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said residents have in fact, been illegally farming at the said area hence their resistance to allow the school to take over the land.
She said the application for additional land was received on 21 February 2017 and a resolution to award the school the land was passed on 3 May 2017.
“The school had requested for additional land so as to introduce new sporting activities as required by the new school curriculum and this benefits children from Mzilikazi Township and those from Thokozani Flats which is part of Mzilikazi Township.
The school has since bought the land and the stand has been title surveyed and is now part of the school. The residents from Thokozani Flats had been illegally using this land for cultivation purposes and farming is not permitted in the ecological sensitive areas as it causes land degradation through soil erosion. In terms of Bulawayo wetland maps done in 2020, this piece of land falls within a wetland area,” said Mrs Mpofu.
She said Lobengula Primary School was allocated the additional land which falls within the wetland area way before the Bulawayo wetland map was prepared by various stakeholders and adopted by Government last year (2021).
“The school does not intend to build any structures on the piece of land but will use it only for sporting facilities which will benefit the children within the local community.
The establishment of sporting facilities for the school is of public interest hence it was considered and it was noted that it does not degrade the land.
The school as a constituted body is better placed to manage this ecologically sensitive area as the educational institutions always work hand in hand with the City Of Bulawayo and the Environmental Management Agency,” said Mrs Mpofu.
