IT NEVER rains but pours for tenants of Reigate Compound in Umguza after their belongings were soaked in the heavy downpour that pounded most parts of Matabeleland yesterday after the Umguza Rural District Council (RDC) demolished their houses three days ago.
RICHARD MUPONDE SENIOR REPORTER
When a Southern Eye crew visited Reigate yesterday morning, it found the tenants crammed in a few small rooms that survived the demolitions, but their property was all soaked.
One of the rooms had more than 20 occupants, including a blind 90-year-old granny, Wabizelo Nleya, who was lumped in a corner under a heap of blankets to protect her from the cold.
Her daughter Khaza Ncube, who is in her 50s, said life had become unbearable for them at the compound since the demolitions on Tuesday.
“Things have been made worse by the rains. All my property was soaked. We only managed to salvage a few items, but the rest was destroyed by the rains as you can see for yourself,” Ncube said.
“We had to seek refuge in this room with my daughters and my mother who is blind. She’s very old and this situation is traumatising her. We don’t know what to do now as council employees also ordered us to leave this room. Where will we go in this rain?”
Another tenant, Titus Nkasa, who has been staying at the compound for 50 years, said he had never seen such a cruel act by an authority which should be protecting its residents.
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“What the RDC is doing is inhumane. I don’t know whether we are living in Zimbabwe or not,” said Nkasa. “If we are in Zimbabwe, why then are we treated like animals? We should also enjoy the fruits of this country’s indepedence.
“I was born here 50 years ago and all my life I have been staying here. This place is what I call my home. In fact, it’s the only home I know. My father used to work for the RDC and I also worked for the same council for 14 years until my retirement in 2003 because of ill health. I have never seen such cruelty,” Nkasa said.
The tenants said they voted for Zanu PF in the July 31 elections and the party was paying them back with inhumane treatment.
Umguza RDC falls under Transport and Infrastructure Development minister Obert Mpofu’s constituency and his wife Sikhanyisiwe was the chairperson of the RDC before being elected to the National Assembly in the July 31 general elections.
The RDC destroyed the tenants’ houses on Tuesday reportedly to allocate the stands they are built on to other buyers.
The tenants leased the houses on a six-year rent-to-buy agreement from January 2003 after which they would assume ownership of the houses.
However, the RDC allegedly sold the stands to other people and wanted to flatten the entire compound to accommodate the new buyers.
The tenants had to rush to court to stop the demolitions and on Wednesday, Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nokhuthula Moyo issued an interdict against the RDC from further demolishing the houses until the matter was finalised.
Seven houses had already been demolished.
