HARARE Mayor Jacob Mafume has urged St Martins residents with approved building plans to produce the documents when council enforcement teams conduct inspections. On the surface, this seems reasonable.
But it comes after the City of Harare demolished houses in St Martins on Friday, declaring them illegal — despite claims from some residents that they had been paying council rates and that their paperwork was in order.
The demolitions expose a troubling contradiction in Harare's housing crisis: authorities are quick to destroy homes but far slower to prevent illegal building on disputed land in the first place.
Mafume's request is fair as far as it goes, but it sidesteps the central question: why were structures demolished before council transparently established who was authorised to build?
This is putting the cart before the horse.
Residents should not have to carry the burden of an administrative system council itself has failed to modernise. If plans were approved, inspections conducted or stands legally allocated, the local authority should hold those records — not depend on residents producing paperwork on the spot while bulldozers wait at the gate.
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Council needs an integrated electronic system that lets enforcement officers verify a property's plans, inspection, payment and approval before acting. This reduces disputes and makes it harder for corrupt officials, land barons and syndicates to exploit administrative gaps.
Demolition should be a last resort, not a first response. Where residents have invested their life savings, council must give clear notice, a chance to produce documents and reasonable time for verification before destroying houses. Due process isn't a favour — it's a basic requirement of accountable governance.
Still, residents aren't blameless. Buying land from a politically- connected figure or informal syndicate doesn't make the transaction legitimate. Home-seekers must verify ownership and allocation with council before paying or building.
But responsibility doesn't stop with residents. Illegal settlements have flourished for years under official watch. Land doesn't become illegal only when the bulldozer arrives — someone allocated it, sold it, collected money for it, approved the plans or simply looked away. Those people must be identified and held accountable.
It is very unfair to let an illegal housing market flourish, then punish ordinary residents for falling victim to it.
Harare needs smart, lawful, accountable enforcement — not just enforcement. Council must clean up its records, digitise approvals, investigate land syndicates and hold enabling officials to account.
Bulldozers can remove walls. They cannot repair broken governance.
The St Martins demolitions should be a turning point — not just to clear structures, but to fix the system that allowed them to emerge.
Amid the talk of documents and procedure, the human cost must not be forgotten. The demolitions will not restore the home of Anesu Mashiri, a widow fending for a family of seven after her husband's death in January. For families like hers, this isn't an administrative dispute — it's the loss of a home, an investment and a sense of security.
Council must get the order right: verify first, enforce second and demolish only when absolutely necessary, after due process has run its course.
Anything less guarantees another St Martins.