In a suburb on the edge of Harare, families who saved for years to own a plot of land found themselves watching bulldozers reduce their homes to rubble in the early hours of a August morning. The city says the structures were built where they should not have been, while residents point to council allocations, signed letters, and a court order that seemed to promise them protection. Between these two accounts lies a question older than this particular quarrel: whether a government's paper promises can be trusted when the ground beneath them has long been poorly governed. The answer is still bei
Harare Demolitions Leave Families Homeless Despite Land Allocations and a Court Order
Dozens of households in St Martins Extension lost homes, including a single mother of three and a retiree who invested over $10,000, with no alternative housing offered.
In a suburb on the edge of Harare, families who saved for years to own a plot of land found themselves watching bulldozers reduce their homes to rubble in the early hours of a August morning. The city says the structures were built where they should not have been, while residents point to council allocations, signed letters, and a court order that seemed to promise them protection. Between these two accounts lies a question older than this particular quarrel: whether a government's paper promises can be trusted when the ground beneath them has long been poorly governed. The answer is still being written, in courtrooms and ministries, and in the makeshift shelters where people wait to learn what they have lost.
At about 5am on Friday, August 14, Methro Masunga, 28, woke to the sound of bulldozers and shouting police in St Martins Extension, a suburb of Harare. At first she assumed the machines were there for road work. Then she understood that her house was among those marked for demolition. She is a single mother of three who spent five years washing clothes and dishes in other people's homes to save for a residential stand. She began paying in 2015, received an allocation in 2019, and by 2020 the arrangement had been formalised through council documents. She now stands among what remains of her house.
Memory Chengeta, a former street food vendor, lost her home too. Residents were bewildered, she says, because a court order had been issued to stop demolitions and no order overturning it was shown. Joachim Nhete used his retirement package to buy land and build, an investment he puts at more than $10,000, and he had no insurance. Some families have gone back to renting, while others remain in makeshift shelters nearby.
The legal picture is narrower than residents' accounts. A consent order issued on October 29, 2025 protected named applicants in St Martins Extension, but it did not cover every property in the suburb, and it is not yet clear whether these homes were included. The council says it demolished only structures built illegally after repeated warnings. Officials have said residents with approved plans should present them, and that the area was not adequately serviced. An allocation letter alone does not prove a house was authorised, so the documents and permits will be decisive.
The dispute rests on a long record of weak land administration. A 2019 commission found unauthorised sales and poor record-keeping. Residents have asked the president to publish that report, a Harare MP wants demolitions halted until allocations are audited, and Parliament has referred the matter to the Ministry of Local Government. The minister says the government does not carry out demolitions or interfere with courts. For the families who lost their homes, the next steps will decide whether their savings can be recovered or whether they will start again from nothing.
At about 5am on Friday, August 14, Methro Masunga, 28, woke to the noise of bulldozers and shouting municipal police in St Martins Extension, a suburb of Harare. She assumed the machines were there for road grading or land development. Then she understood her house was one of those marked for demolition. She told Al Jazeera that residents tried to make sense of it, but no one would listen.
Masunga is a single mother of three. She spent five years doing laundry and washing dishes in other people's homes, saving to buy a residential stand. She began paying in 2015 and received an allocation in 2019. By her account, the arrangement was formalised through the city council in 2020, when residents began receiving official documents. She spoke to the reporter standing among what remained of her house.
Memory Chengeta, a former street food vendor, also lost her home. She says residents were bewildered because a court order had been issued to stop demolitions, and she says the municipal authorities arrived with no order overturning it. She is now homeless. Some affected residents have gone back to renting, but Chengeta and Masunga are among those who stayed in St Martins in makeshift shelters. Joachim Nhete used his retirement package to buy land and build, and puts his investment at more than $10,000. He had no insurance and hopes the courts will make the council pay.
The total number displaced by Harare's 2026 demolitions has not been independently established. City council records seen by Al Jazeera list more than 5,000 houses facing demolition under 37 outstanding High Court orders; those figures cover targeted properties, not homes already destroyed. A council task force has separately inspected 22,255 sites to find structures on prohibited or unauthorised land.
The legal picture is narrower than residents' accounts suggest. On October 29, 2025, Justice Happias Zhou issued a consent order in case HCH5444/25 setting aside demolition notices for named applicants in St Martins Extension. It barred the City of Harare from evicting them or demolishing their homes without a valid court order, and it prohibited further development without written council approval. The order did not cover every property in the suburb, and the available information does not show whether Masunga, Chengeta or their properties were covered.
The council says it did not demolish protected properties. Spokesperson Stanley Gama told local media that it was removing structures whose owners had been warned many times not to build illegally. Mayor Jacob Mafume told NewsDay on August 15 that residents with approved building plans should show them during inspections, and declined to comment on the legality of the St Martins demolitions. Housing director Edgar Dzehonye later said residents were warned against building because the area was not adequately serviced. An allocation letter does not by itself prove a house was authorised, so the status of residents' documents, the approved layout and individual building permits is central.
David Jenje, chairman of the St Martins Residents Association, says members paid deposits of $5,000 as early as 2018, were allocated stands in July 2019, and signed allocation letters and sale agreements in February 2020. He calls the demolitions illegal. Precious Shumba of the Harare Residents' Trust says town planning and legal officers issued the police directives despite the court order. Section 74 of Zimbabwe's Constitution bars demolition of homes without a court order, and the National Human Settlements Policy calls for alternative accommodation beforehand. Residents say none was offered.
The dispute sits on a record of weak land administration. A 2019 commission chaired by Justice Tendai Uchena found unauthorised sales and poor record-keeping, and said land barons sold state land, sometimes allegedly with council officials. The Residents' Trust wrote to the president on July 22, 2026, asking for publication of the commission's report. Harare South MP Trymore Kanopula wants demolitions halted until allocations are audited. Parliament's speaker referred the matter to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works. Minister Daniel Garwe said the government does not carry out demolitions or interfere with courts, and acknowledged about 5,000 council demolition orders. Next to watch are any audit of allocations, the ministry's response, and court action against the council.
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Crime & Justice