SCORES of residents from Emganwini Millennium Housing Scheme last week stormed the Nketa housing office protesting against Bulawayo City Council’s failure to give them title deeds of the houses they have been occupying since 2002.
Blondie Ndebele
Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association area chairperson Mandula Ncube said they had to demonstrate because the local authority had done nothing over the issue since last year.
“We were patient all this time thinking that they were working out something, but to date nothing has been done,” he said.
“We tried talking to the mayor and the town clerk, but they were not willing to come clear on the issue. They didn’t even know who was handling the issue.” Angry residents marched from their suburb to the Nketa housing office carrying placards denouncing the local authority.
Bulawayo mayor Thaba Moyo, however, advised residents to follow council procedures to address their issues.
“Council decisions are done in certain procedures and they should use proper channels so that the issues can be looked at by the relevant council committees,” he said.
On the placards, residents complained that they had not been given title deeds for the houses they have been staying in for more than a decade.
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They were also complaining about the “exorbitant” fees that they were being charged every month on top of the service fees.
The Millennium Housing Scheme, a joint venture between the local authority and a donor, is meant for low-income earners.
Most of the beneficiaries of the houses were moved from Sidojiwe.
Residents first demonstrated over the same issue last year.
