News / Regional
Housing stands scandal rocks Nkayi council
29 Dec 2013 at 04:01hrs | Views
THE Nkayi Rural District Council has been rocked by a housing stands scandal which has seen the council unscrupulously repossessing stands and selling them to people who do not appear on the housing waiting list.
According to Sunday News, the confusion caused by the alleged repossessions has resulted in numerous cases of double allocation and in some cases a single stand is owned by more than four people.
Nkayi RDC officials have further stirred a hornet's nest by claiming that it was within their jurisdiction to repossess any stand within 12 months of offering it to any individual if they failed to complete construction work.
These revelations come amid reports that a former council engineer, who is now late, took advantage of the laxity in security within the local authority to sell stands to unsuspecting individuals, with council officials now claiming the receipt book he used was missing.
Investigations by a Sunday News crew that visited the area recently also revealed that councillors were also accused of parcelling out stands to their friends and relatives with allegations that one commercial stand located at the business centre belonged to a senior Umguza Rural District Council official. The stand has reportedly gone for years without being serviced. However, a number of residents in the township had their stands confiscated despite them having partial structures.
The problem of stand allocations has also affected councillors in the district.
According to sources, villagers and local businesspeople were considering taking legal action against the council over the issue of stands.
"I have been on the housing waiting list since 2000 but it is surprising that people who are not even on the waiting list are being given stands as long as they have the $500 to purchase the stands. I have on numerous occasions tried to inquire what their position is but no one wants to give me a straightforward answer.
"We are told they recently released 100 stands but to my surprise, I was not offered despite being on the waiting list for all this long," said one villager who identified himself as Mr Ndlovu.
A local businessman claimed the local authority had continually frustrated him when he tried to purchase a stand in the area until he opted to buy a stand from an individual.
"You find within the business centre an individual having more than five commercial stands but when I applied for the stand they turned down my application, even when I purchased and developed this stand they started frustrating my attempts to get an operating licence.
"What further surprised me is that I applied for a double stand to build a shop in the area, which I believe is bringing development, they turned it down and instead offered a single stand while they have all that land at their disposal," said the businessman.
Another resident claimed his stand had been repossessed even though his structure had reached window level.
"I tried negotiating with the council but to no avail, they told me I had taken too long to develop the stand but what they should understand is that we cannot just dig money from anywhere but we work hard. They cannot just confiscate our properties willy-nilly," said the resident, who also preferred anonymity fearing victimisation.
Sunday News also managed to interview Ward 29 Councillor Kufakwezwe Ncube, who said he had also been a victim after he bought a stand that belonged to someone else.
He, however, attributed this to the late council engineer, Mr Poland Mlala, who he said sold stands to a number of individuals before disappearing to South Africa with the receipt book.
"I fully agree with what these people are saying. I was also affected by this double allocation scam because of this council engineer. It is unfortunate that he is late now, besides this scenario, we have a whole lot more issues with regards to the stands. I can safely say that the issue of stands is giving us a serious headache in the council.
"At the moment we are desperately trying to rectify it by identifying more stands in the townships, which saw us releasing 100 stands in the area. Our call is that our residents be patient with us," said Clr Ncube.
The council's chairperson, Clr Sicelo Mpofu, confirmed that the council was faced with a serious housing stands problem that had been worsened by the problem of double allocation.
He, however, lashed out at the villagers complaining about having their stands repossessed, saying everyone offered land in the district signed a lease with the council which clearly stipulated that they should have completed their structures in 12 months.
The council chairperson revealed that when they repossessed the stands it was the prerogative of council whether or not to compensate the individual for any developments.
"These people are just complaining for the sake of it, when we offered them the piece of land they signed a lease where they agreed that they would have completed their structures within 12 months. We really can't have a scenario where someone goes for years without developing their stands.
"We have scenarios where someone goes for over 10 years sitting on a stand while our housing waiting list continues to balloon. We would rather take back the stand and give it to someone who can develop it," said Clr Mpofu.
He claimed that they were in the process of rectifying the problem of double allocation, calling on people not to put them under unnecessary pressure.
"I am surprised that people are rushing to the media to resolve this issue, they should instead come to our offices and I am sure something can be worked out," said the council chairperson.
Questioned about the commercial stand said to belong to a senior Umguza RDC official, which had gone for years without being serviced, Clr Mpofu laughed off the matter and declined to give details.
Nkayi CEO Mr Zimbabwe Ndlovu denied the allegations, saying all he was aware of was that they had repossessed stands whose owners "were not traceable".
"What I know is we only repossessed abandoned stands whose owners were not traceable, we also gave way to people who came to us with reasonable excuses for not developing the stands and gave them back their stands.
"The only problem that I know of is that of double allocation which we are desperately trying to rectify as an administration," said Mr Ndlovu.
In the past, a number of councils have been rocked by housing scandals. A couple of years ago, Beitbridge Town councillors parcelled out housing stands among themselves, relatives and friends, a situation that saw Government ordering an immediate investigation.
According to Sunday News, the confusion caused by the alleged repossessions has resulted in numerous cases of double allocation and in some cases a single stand is owned by more than four people.
Nkayi RDC officials have further stirred a hornet's nest by claiming that it was within their jurisdiction to repossess any stand within 12 months of offering it to any individual if they failed to complete construction work.
These revelations come amid reports that a former council engineer, who is now late, took advantage of the laxity in security within the local authority to sell stands to unsuspecting individuals, with council officials now claiming the receipt book he used was missing.
Investigations by a Sunday News crew that visited the area recently also revealed that councillors were also accused of parcelling out stands to their friends and relatives with allegations that one commercial stand located at the business centre belonged to a senior Umguza Rural District Council official. The stand has reportedly gone for years without being serviced. However, a number of residents in the township had their stands confiscated despite them having partial structures.
The problem of stand allocations has also affected councillors in the district.
According to sources, villagers and local businesspeople were considering taking legal action against the council over the issue of stands.
"I have been on the housing waiting list since 2000 but it is surprising that people who are not even on the waiting list are being given stands as long as they have the $500 to purchase the stands. I have on numerous occasions tried to inquire what their position is but no one wants to give me a straightforward answer.
"We are told they recently released 100 stands but to my surprise, I was not offered despite being on the waiting list for all this long," said one villager who identified himself as Mr Ndlovu.
A local businessman claimed the local authority had continually frustrated him when he tried to purchase a stand in the area until he opted to buy a stand from an individual.
"You find within the business centre an individual having more than five commercial stands but when I applied for the stand they turned down my application, even when I purchased and developed this stand they started frustrating my attempts to get an operating licence.
"What further surprised me is that I applied for a double stand to build a shop in the area, which I believe is bringing development, they turned it down and instead offered a single stand while they have all that land at their disposal," said the businessman.
Another resident claimed his stand had been repossessed even though his structure had reached window level.
"I tried negotiating with the council but to no avail, they told me I had taken too long to develop the stand but what they should understand is that we cannot just dig money from anywhere but we work hard. They cannot just confiscate our properties willy-nilly," said the resident, who also preferred anonymity fearing victimisation.
Sunday News also managed to interview Ward 29 Councillor Kufakwezwe Ncube, who said he had also been a victim after he bought a stand that belonged to someone else.
"I fully agree with what these people are saying. I was also affected by this double allocation scam because of this council engineer. It is unfortunate that he is late now, besides this scenario, we have a whole lot more issues with regards to the stands. I can safely say that the issue of stands is giving us a serious headache in the council.
"At the moment we are desperately trying to rectify it by identifying more stands in the townships, which saw us releasing 100 stands in the area. Our call is that our residents be patient with us," said Clr Ncube.
The council's chairperson, Clr Sicelo Mpofu, confirmed that the council was faced with a serious housing stands problem that had been worsened by the problem of double allocation.
He, however, lashed out at the villagers complaining about having their stands repossessed, saying everyone offered land in the district signed a lease with the council which clearly stipulated that they should have completed their structures in 12 months.
The council chairperson revealed that when they repossessed the stands it was the prerogative of council whether or not to compensate the individual for any developments.
"These people are just complaining for the sake of it, when we offered them the piece of land they signed a lease where they agreed that they would have completed their structures within 12 months. We really can't have a scenario where someone goes for years without developing their stands.
"We have scenarios where someone goes for over 10 years sitting on a stand while our housing waiting list continues to balloon. We would rather take back the stand and give it to someone who can develop it," said Clr Mpofu.
He claimed that they were in the process of rectifying the problem of double allocation, calling on people not to put them under unnecessary pressure.
"I am surprised that people are rushing to the media to resolve this issue, they should instead come to our offices and I am sure something can be worked out," said the council chairperson.
Questioned about the commercial stand said to belong to a senior Umguza RDC official, which had gone for years without being serviced, Clr Mpofu laughed off the matter and declined to give details.
Nkayi CEO Mr Zimbabwe Ndlovu denied the allegations, saying all he was aware of was that they had repossessed stands whose owners "were not traceable".
"What I know is we only repossessed abandoned stands whose owners were not traceable, we also gave way to people who came to us with reasonable excuses for not developing the stands and gave them back their stands.
"The only problem that I know of is that of double allocation which we are desperately trying to rectify as an administration," said Mr Ndlovu.
In the past, a number of councils have been rocked by housing scandals. A couple of years ago, Beitbridge Town councillors parcelled out housing stands among themselves, relatives and friends, a situation that saw Government ordering an immediate investigation.
Source - Sunday News
