Belvedere Demolitions: The Facts

The City of Harare is determined to stop land barons from illegally parcelling out land to unsuspecting residents and this criminality has to be stopped.

It is important that we protect residents from criminals who falsify documents and sell the land to innocent victims.

In the case of the Belvedere demolitions here are the facts below.

i. The land in question is Ridgeview Belvedere described as remainder of Salisbury Township Lands(STL) Plan Number TP2F/2219/3 which was approved in 2002.

ii. This land is legally owned by the City of Harare and is designated for residential purposes.

This piece of Council land has fifty-two (52) unserviced residential stands.

The valuation of the stands was done and approved by Council in 2021.

Before Council could allocate the stands, the land was invaded by individuals led by a company going by the name Brickstone Builders and Contractors Private Limited.

At that material time they erected wooden cabins on 15 stands.

iii. The stands do not have the requisite water, sewer, roads and storm water drains which are required before one can settle on land.

iv. In 2022 meetings chaired by His Worship, Mayor of the City of Harare Clr.J. Mafume were held between Council and representatives of Brickstone Builders and Contractors (Pvt) Ltd. During the meetings, Council informed the illegal invaders to follow due process in acquiring Council land.

v. Contrary to the advice given during the meetings, Council noticed that developments had started on the ground in July 2023. The illegal developments paused a health hazard to the neighboring community.

vi. The illegal developments sparked an outrage from the neighboring community.

vii. Council responded to the illegal developments by instituting demolitions during that month.

Brickstone Building and Contractors Private Limited took Council to court indicating that the company had been allocated the land by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.

They attached the letter from the Ministry signed by a Mr. Madzivire.

On inquiry from the Ministry, Council was advised by the Ministry that the letter was fake and Mr. Madzivire distanced himself from authoring that letter.

The Chief Director Spatial Planning Mr. Mushamba also distanced the Ministry from the allocation of council land to Brickstone.

viii. The City of Harare issued 48 hour notices to the occupants to stop developments and in response to the notices, Brickstone Building and Contractors Private Limited, using fraudulent documents, approached the Court and were granted an interdict on the basis of the fake documents.

ix. The interdict was granted on condition that the status quo was to remain and that no further developments were to be undertaken by the illegal invaders.

x. The illegal invaders did not take heed of the interdict and proceeded to construct structures on the piece land without approved architectural building plans as well as the attendant mandatory inspections.

xi. In compliance with the relevant terms of the interdict, the City moved in to demolish those structures that were developed after the issuance of the interdict. The structures that were covered by the interdict were left intact.

xii. Thirty (30) illegal structures at various stages of construction were demolished.

xiii. The City of Harare has since approached the Courts for a court order to demolish the 3 that were covered by the interdict.

The City of Harare remains committed to addressing urban challenges and ensuring the well-being of its residents.

The demolitions will also dissuade land barons who have remained undeterred and continue selling stands to desperate home seekers .

Meanwhile the National Prosecuting Authority put out a notice that on 17 September 2024 Lilian Chitanga and Spencer Mabeka, directors of Brickstone Builders and Contractors, were arraigned before the courts on fraud charges for allegedly forging offer letter documents to unsuspecting home seekers.

“Allegations are that, the accused persons forged a distribution letter for approval of a layout plan dated 20 April 2021 and an offer letter dated 22 April 2021 both purportedly authored and signed by the Principal Director of Physical Planning in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works,” said NPA.

“They also forged another offer letter offering their company Brickstone Builders and
Contractors Private Limited 14.4354 hectares of land dated 15 December 2015,
purportedly authored and signed by the Housing Director of City of Harare,”

“Equipped with the fake documents, the accused persons invaded the land and engaged a land
developer to develop 52 residential stands measuring approximately 2000 square
meters each,”

“They advertised and sold land to 45 unsuspecting land seekers who made payments ranging from USD25 000 to USD40 000. They issued out lease agreements and offer letters signed by both accused persons as the land sellers.

“The land seekers erected structures which were demolished by the city council. The
accused persons filed an urgent chamber application with the High Court seeking to
stop the Council from demolishing the structures as well as interdicting Council from
evicting them from the said land.

“The accused persons misrepresented in their court application that they were legal owners of the said land by tendering fake documents,”

“Investigations by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) revealed that
the allocation letter that was presented before the courts by the accused persons was
not authentic,”