Wave after Wave
JUNE 2021
4.0 Wave of Demolitions
It is a chilly afternoon in the small town of Marondera, some 70 kilometres east of Harare.
Nothing appears unusual, it is just like every typical Zimbabwean town, dominated by vendors and small
scale traders and other commercial activities.
Marondera is surrounded by farms and some 10 kilometres to the east of the town is Maganga, a
sprawling farm occupied by hundreds of small scale farmers who took over the area during the land
reform exercise.
Each with their own piece of land, they rely on livestock and maize farming. The place is a political
hotspot, where Zanu PF has dominated over the past decade.
But that comes with its problems as the poor farmers, who have over the years been used as political
pawns, are at the receiving end of the factional fighting.
So, on June 1, 2021, the Messenger of Court, accompanied by police officers descended on the farm and
started forcibly evicting the 500 families settled on the farmers.
This followed a long-standing dispute between the farmers and a local company, Hunyani Timbers.
Hunyani is claiming ownership of the land and when the ZPP visited the farm,
truckloads of men accompanied by dozens of police officers were conducting the
evictions with the supervision of the Messenger of Court.
The farmers and their families were dumped at an open space a few metres from the main Harare
Mutare highway without any food, provisional shelter and toilets.
Over 100 children are still sleeping in the open, enduring cold winter nights.
June is one of the coldest months in Zimbabwe, and temperatures at night can be as low as 5 degrees
Celsius.
Speaking to NewsHawks, about Maganga the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution
Aplonia Munzverengwi has confirmed that the farm belonged to Hunyani Estate.
“The farm was given to Hunyani Timbers who were the rightful owners of this land, so we have sent a
request to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate, Fisheries and Rural Resettlement to
consider these farmers who have been staying at this place for many years so that he grants 210
hectares to allocate these farmers,” said Munzverengwi.
This was not the only incident of eviction and demolition this month.
In Harare, demolitions started in most of the low class suburbs.
Council officials, backed by troops of armed police officers demolished houses and informal trading
spaces in Epworth, Waterfalls, Highfields, Mbare, Budiriro, Glen View and other areas.
Despite Chitungwiza Residents Trust (Chitrest) obtaining a Court order to stop demolitions, the Harare
City Council continued with demolitions in Mbare.
ZPP estimates that over 2500 people were affected by the demolition of
houses and tens of thousands of informal traders were affected when their
operating spaces were destroyed.
One of the hundreds
of houses demolished
15
and torched at
Maganga Farm