Magwegwe West residents begin erecting makeshift homes

Bulawayo's Magwegwe West suburb risks descending into an informal settlement as dozens of frustrated home seekers have started erecting temporary shelters on unserviced land, nearly a decade after purchasing residential stands.

The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) says it is constrained from halting the construction because the site remains under the control of a contractor involved in a protracted legal dispute with the municipality. Residents, who purchased the stands in January 2016, accuse the council of neglect and dishonesty, claiming repeated assurances of progress have yielded no tangible results while their lives "fall apart."

Last week, scores of beneficiaries moved onto the undeveloped plots, citing the failure to deliver basic services promised years ago. Responding to the situation, BCC Corporate Communications Manager Nesisa Mpofu confirmed that while the council is aware of the occupation, legal limitations prevent intervention.

"Until the arbitration process has been concluded and the servicing works completed, the site remains under the contractor's control, thereby limiting Council's ability to regulate such construction activities," Mpofu said, stressing that the makeshift structures remain illegal. She added that the contractor would be engaged through legal channels and that delays stem from the ongoing dispute and arbitration process.

The council has, however, engaged beneficiaries to explore practical solutions, including agreed top-ups, to enable completion of essential services while maintaining regulatory oversight and preventing the emergence of informal settlements. Mpofu said updates on the arbitration process would continue to be shared with residents, noting that once the process is concluded, water and sewer reticulation, stormwater drainage, and road construction to gravel standard will resume. Only after these works are complete will residents be permitted to develop their stands.

Acknowledging the financial and emotional strain on affected residents, Mpofu said the council had revised its servicing policy, moving away from a prepaid model that left residents vulnerable during the transition from the US dollar to the RTGS dollar. Under the new developer-led model, servicing is completed before stand allocation, protecting beneficiaries from financial loss. With agreed top-ups, remaining works will be completed using internal teams and hired equipment at significantly reduced costs.