COVID-19 Exposes Stark Housing Backlog, But Authorities Deny Failure

Some of the people that live in the crowded Spanda ward in Victoria Falls. Image by Bokani Mudimba | The Citizen Bulletin

by Bokani Mudimba

Seven years ago, the government promised to build over 300 000 houses nationally. The housing backlog has since doubled. A global pandemic in the form of COVID-19 has laid bare the poor sanitary conditions people are exposed to due to unfulfilled promises.

VICTORIA FALLS, September 28, 2020. (The Citizen Bulletin) — CLOSE to 50 families share a single community ablution facility in squalid old houses without running water.  Overcrowded, is the word summing up the lives of scores of citizens in the old Chinotimba suburb in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

The situation is worse in Hwange’s Number 2 and Number 5 suburbs where people still use public community toilets and bucket systems for flushing as they live in dilapidated houses built in the 1930s.

Exposure to possible COVID-19 infection through sharing facilities without running water is a major concern.

To date, the government has not honoured its promise to provide decent housing to its citizens. Soon after the 2013 elections, the government launched a national housing programme under the then ZimAsset’s social services and poverty eradication cluster where it promised to build 313 368 low cost housing units countrywide.

The target was to build 105 935 houses in Harare province, 56 760 in Midlands, 28 772 in Matabeleland North, 23 819 in Mashonaland West, 21 830 in Manicaland, 20 269 in Masvingo, 16 607 in Mashonaland Central, 15 100 in Bulawayo, 12 500 in Matabeleland South and 11 776 for Mashonaland East by 2018.

At that time the housing backlog was 1.25 million and has now ballooned to 2,5 million according to the current national waiting list.

There is no record of the houses built by the government for its citizens.

Georgina Ndlovu aged 77 is one of scores of residents who stay in the crowded Esikhwahleni, also known as Spanda ward in Victoria Falls.

These are blocks of cottages originally built during the colonial period as single quarters for single migrant men who were employed to build the railway line and other projects including the Victoria Falls Bridge some 100 years ago.

A block of one roomed cottages popularly known as Spanda ward in Victoria Falls. Image by Bokani Mudimba | The Citizen Bulletin

Desperate families share a single room and use curtains to demarcate with their neighbours.

On average two families occupy a single room and children sleep on the verandah outside.

“I used to sell vegetables and registered for the housing waiting list but did not get a stand. I moved in here because I had nowhere else to stay after my husband who was a migrant worker died. I stay with my 22-year-old grandson who is also not working, and we share the room with another family. My grandson sleeps outside on the verandah with other children from other families,” says Georgina Ndlovu.

There are eight such blocks in Chinotimba suburb, each with six single rooms. All share two public water taps and two ablution facilities whose water system is dysfunctional and use a bucket system, further compromising their health.

They pay an equivalent of US$1 for rent and water to the council.

For Ndlovu, crowding is not an issue anymore. Families share a fireplace further causing crowding and none of them put on face masks in the process.

There is a similar scenario at nearby houses occupied by civil servants where four or five families share a water tap and ablution.

Health authorities emphasize constant washing of hands with running water and wearing masks as one of Covid-19 preventive measures and are concerned about living conditions which are a breeding ground not only for coronavirus but other infectious diseases.

A civil servant who prefers to remain anonymous says their living conditions are not fit for a government worker.

“Walls are cracked, and one can actually peep through from outside. People use pieces of newspapers and cloths to close the cracks. We use detached community toilets; two houses share one toilet and water tap meaning that each toilet is shared by about four or five families.

“For years we have been promised houses but up to now we have nothing. Many have retired without houses and are struggling to pay rent,” says the government worker.

Last year the government promised to avail non-monetary benefits like housing stands to its workers but the project has not been implemented.

Victoria Falls Mayor Somvelo Dlamini says demand for housing has increased to over 15 000 in the resort town as population has grown. He says the town has no land for expansion as it is bordered by national parks.

Government blames failure to implement housing projects on sanctions which are reportedly affecting investment.

While admitting that provision of decent housing is a constitutional requirement, National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel Garwe says the government has land but has no money for housing projects hence seeks partnerships with private developers.

National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel Garwe (in Black suit and white sun hat) being shown around squalid houses in Victoria Falls. Image by Bokani Mudimba | The Citizen Bulletin

“Everyone has a right to have decent shelter and dignity. However, the Housing Ministry is private sector driven and we have approached pension funds, financial institutions and insurance companies and told them to take part in the provision of housing,” Minister Garwe says.

He says more than 10 financial institutions have committed themselves to housing projects in partnership with the government, with about US$65 million mobilized so far.

Asked about failed housing projects, Minister Garwe says government projects are phased and are still in the pipeline.

“Now we are committed through urban renewal where we want to replace all dilapidated houses. Where there is no land, we will occupy vertical space by building flats. We have civil servants who are living in those dilapidated houses and it’s Government duty to see that they are refurbished,” Minister Garwe.

Lack of housing has resulted in sprouting of illegal settlements while many desperate citizens have been duped by unscrupulous land barons and cooperatives in an attempt to acquire housing stands.

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