Hon. Daniel Garwe, Minister of Local Government and Public Works, and Hon. Paul Mavima, Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities. Copied to the City of Harare, Epworth Local Board and all local authorities carrying out demolitions.
The petition
Across Zimbabwe, families are watching homes they spent years building reduced to rubble. In Harare alone, more than 5,000 houses face demolition, and thousands more families are at risk in Epworth, Zvimba and other areas.
We understand that towns need planning. Wetlands must be protected, and land for schools, clinics and roads must stay public. This petition does not ask the government to ignore planning law.
It asks that the law be applied fairly, and to everyone.
Most of these families did not grab land. They bought plots from cooperatives, land developers, officials and traditional leaders, often paying their life savings, and many have paid council rates for years. A house is not built overnight. It takes months of open, visible work. Yet the people who sold land they had no right to sell are rarely held to account, while the families who trusted them lose everything.
Our Constitution is clear. Section 74 states that no one may be evicted from their home, or have their home demolished, without a court order made after considering all the relevant circumstances. The Constitutional Court has described demolitions carried out without due process as a complete negation of that right, whatever the legality of the structures.
We call on the Government and all local authorities to:
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Carry out no demolition of an occupied home without a court order that names the specific property, and give every household proper written notice and time to challenge it in court.
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Suspend demolitions until each affected household has been offered alternative land or accommodation, as was done for families relocated by government projects.
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Regularise every settlement that can safely be regularised, and restrict demolition to land that genuinely cannot be: wetlands, road reserves and sites for public services.
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Investigate and prosecute the land barons, officials and intermediaries who sold the land,
and create a process for families to recover what they paid. -
Never make families pay for the demolition of their own homes.
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Publish a full public register of land legally available for housing, so no family is deceived again.
Planning and justice are not opposites. We ask the Government to deliver both.