Mutare City Council has been granted a court order authorising the demolition of 700 housing units illegally built in Dangamvura by members of a Zanu PF-aligned housing co-operative.
Magistrate Sekesai Chiundura granted the order yesterday and ordered Homeless Federation Housing Scheme members to pay the costs of the lawsuit.
The local authority took the matter to the courts after the co-operative’s members snubbed previous orders to stop the project. Council argued the area had not been serviced.
Beneficiaries of the scheme, believed to be Zanu PF members, then accused the MDC-T-dominated council of seeking to persecute them for political reasons.
But council lawyer Johannes Zviuya said the housing project was in contravention of the Housing Standards Control Act.
The order was granted in default after the co-operative’s members failed to turn up in court or file an opposing affidavit.
