HUNDREDS of Eyestone residents yesterday watched helplessly as Harare City Council bulldozers razed down their structures under the watchful eye of heavily-armed police who were ready to pounce on those showing signs of resistance.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Council officials on Wednesday beat a hasty retreat, while three municipal police officers were disarmed and a vehicle smashed after residents charged at them when they tried to demolish their structures.
But yesterday, council officials with the support of scores of riot police officers managed to demolish the structures without allowing residents to remove their belongings.
When NewsDay visited the area, police ordered the news crew to leave and keep their distance to avoid being caught in the crossfire as they sought to complete their mission.
Residents, who were watching from a distance warned they would not give up easily, while some blamed Zanu PF internal fighting for the destruction of their properties.
“Council officials came in the company of many armed police officers and started intimidating people. They then went on to demolish properties without allowing people to remove their belongings saying there was no time for such because we were violent yesterday (Wednesday),” a youth leader in the area Joseph Bheura said.
However, Harare City spokesperson Michael Chideme said council would not be deterred from razing down all illegal structures.
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“We will continue with demolitions of illegal makeshift structures. We have engaged ZRP and we will cover all areas with illegal structures. We need a properly planned city and our advice to the people is that they should not deal with third parties when it comes to municipal land,” he said.
