Bulawayo's 159-bed complex houses nearly 1 000 people

Bulawayo's ageing workers' hostels, originally built in the 1950s to accommodate single male industrial workers, have evolved into severely overcrowded family settlements, with one complex designed for 159 occupants now sheltering almost 1 000 people, exposing a growing urban housing and infrastructure crisis.

The scale of the problem emerged on Saturday during a fact-finding visit by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, which is touring dysfunctional settlements and government housing projects across Zimbabwe.

Led by committee chairperson and Mazowe Central MP Maxmore Njanji, legislators visited Cowdray Park's Hlalani Kuhle/Garikai housing project, the Richmond Landfill informal settlement, Burombo Flats and Iminyela suburb to assess housing conditions and infrastructure challenges.

Briefing the committee, Bulawayo City Council (BCC) officials described decades-old social housing schemes struggling under mounting population pressure, ageing infrastructure and chronic underinvestment.

Housing and Community Services assistant director Zakeu Sibanda said the city's social housing developments at Sidojiwe, Burombo and Iminyela were all established during the 1950s to accommodate bachelor workers employed in Bulawayo's once-thriving manufacturing sector.

However, shifting social and economic realities have transformed the hostels into densely populated family communities, overwhelming infrastructure that was never designed for such numbers.

"Burombo was also designed for bachelors and has 159 housing units. Today, instead of accommodating about 159 occupants, it is home to nearly 1 000 people," Sibanda told the committee.

"This has placed enormous pressure on the sewer and water infrastructure, while vandalism has compounded the situation."

The disclosure highlighted the extent of Bulawayo's housing crisis, with ageing municipal infrastructure increasingly unable to cope with rising demand amid limited financial resources.

At Sidojiwe Flats, another former bachelor housing scheme built in the early 1950s, council has spent more than two decades attempting to relocate residents and decommission the deteriorating buildings.

"Sidojiwe was built in the early 1950s for bachelors working in industry. Over time they brought their families and the area became congested," Sibanda said.

He explained that council secured Public Sector Investment Programme funding in the early 2000s to construct replacement housing under the Millennium Housing Project.

The programme resulted in the construction of 167 housing units in Emganwini, allowing some residents to relocate.

However, the initiative stalled before all occupants could be moved.

"Some residents were moved, but 63 serviced stands remained undeveloped. Before we could complete the programme, Operation Murambatsvina took place and some of the decommissioned flats were reoccupied. That meant the congestion challenges persisted," Sibanda said.

Council is currently constructing 25 additional housing units in Emganwini to facilitate the eventual closure of Sidojiwe Flats, although progress has been slowed by funding shortages.

"Our intention is to relocate the remaining residents from Sidojiwe and completely decommission the flats, in line with a council resolution. Unfortunately, progress remains slow because of funding constraints," he added.

At Iminyela, another former workers' settlement, the local authority has embarked on an extensive upgrading programme to replace communal ablution facilities with individual household sanitation.

Sibanda said the project would require substantial financial support.

"The toilets project alone requires more than US$9.5 million, while further investment is needed to upgrade roads, water and sewer infrastructure," he said.

The committee's visit underscored the broader decline of Bulawayo's post-independence industrial housing system.

Once built to support a flourishing manufacturing economy, the city's workers' hostels have become overcrowded residential communities marked by ageing infrastructure, deteriorating living conditions and mounting service delivery challenges.

With thousands of residents now occupying facilities designed for only a fraction of the current population, legislators were confronted with the magnitude of the housing backlog facing Zimbabwe's second-largest city.

The parliamentary inquiry is expected to produce recommendations aimed at reforming national housing policy, accelerating the upgrading of ageing urban settlements and addressing the growing demand for affordable housing.