BCC yet to resolve 24 double allocations of stands

Bulawayo City Council is still battling to resolve 24 cases of double‑allocated residential stands, most of them in Cowdray Park, according to the latest council minutes on the Hlalani Kuhle/Garikai housing scheme.


Cowdray Park became the epicentre of chaotic stand allocations after the government launched the Hlalani Kuhle/Garikai programme in the aftermath of the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina, which displaced thousands of families and destroyed informal home industries.

Acting Director of Housing and Community Services Dictor Khumalo reported that at the beginning of the review period, council had 24 unresolved double‑allocation cases — and none were resolved during the month under review.

“There were no changes in the month of January 2026,” the minutes noted.

Councillor Khalazani Ndlovu questioned why the issue had dragged on for so long and sought clarity on what caused the double allocations.

A Principal Community Services Officer explained that Cowdray Park was originally a central government project created to accommodate people displaced by Operation Murambatsvina.

“The allocation of stands was not done properly, with one stand being allocated to two or more beneficiaries. Some of the documentation was not accurate,” the minutes read.

The scheme was later handed over to council with all its administrative problems. Council said the biggest obstacle to resolving the double allocations was the unavailability of alternative stands.

“Once stands become available, these double allocations will be solved,” the report stated.

Home ownership conversions

On home ownership conversions, the Housing and Community Services Department reported that 430 rented houses had been converted to home ownership to date.

In Mzilikazi and Makokoba, 1 567 houses have been converted out of a total of 2 283 units, leaving 716 still to be processed. The statistics remained unchanged during the reporting period.