ZANU PF has distanced itself from a Victoria Falls Housing Co-operative using President Robert Mugabe’s name allegedly threatening to evict Ndlovu villagers on the outskirts of the resort town. NQOBANI NDLOVU STAFF REPORTER
The shadowy Gushungo Robert Mugabe Housing Union has set up base at Ndlovu village, pegging stands at villagers’ homesteads, kraals and communal farms, and threatening to demolish their structures in a month.
The housing co-operative was allocated land at Ndlovu village and has reportedly sold stands to nearly 6 000 home seekers, mainly from Harare, a development that will result in the eviction of the villagers.
Zanu PF Matabeleland North vice-chairperson Nelson Sibanda yesterday distanced the party from the Gushungo housing co-operative, before adding that the “villagers are not going anywhere”.
“The party has no links whatsoever to the Gushungo housing co-operative,” he said.
“It has got nothing to do with the party. In as much as the housing co-operative bought land there (at Ndlovu), we are saying the villagers should not be evicted against their will.
“These villagers are not going anywhere and they should not be harassed or threatened with eviction.” Sibanda said villagers should be given compensation, while those that did not want money should be left to continue staying there.
“We will not agree to a situation where villagers are told to vacate the area with no knowledge of where they will be resettled and without compensation,” he said.
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“The council should see to it that the villagers are properly resettled.”
Angry Ndlovu area villagers have vowed to fight off any eviction attempts.
They said the Gushungo housing co-operative should instead be allocated land in the thick forest, the proposed area for resettling the villagers.
“They are saying they will unearth the graves and give us the skeletons to rebury once we are resettled,” Regina Khumalo, a villager said.
“They will have to arrest or kill us because we are not going anywhere.”
Etha Nyathi said she had been settled in the area since the 1960s and was not prepared to move.
“They should build a satellite town in the thick forest and leave us alone,” she said.
Aaron Ncube added that they had started engaging human rights lawyers to assist them fight off any eviction attempts. Butholezwe Nyathi, an official at Bulawayo Agenda, condemned attempts to evict villagers without compensation.
“Some households have been domiciled in the area for over three generations and regard the relocation as a great disruption of their socioeconomic livelihoods,” he said.
“Some communal farm land has been taken over, exposing families to hunger and starvation. We suggest that the villagers be left alone and instead alternative land be allocated to members of the housing cooperative.”
