ILLEGAL shacks razed during the 2005 clean-up campaign code-named Operation Murambatsvina have resurfaced in Harare’s oldest high-density suburb of Mbare.
Report by Senior Reporter
The illegal structures that have been turned into tuckshops have sprouted on almost every piece of free space in the suburb.
During a visit to the suburb last week, sources told NewsDay that the shacks were mushrooming without council approval.
Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda yesterday said the illegal shacks had to be done away with, but the matter was delicate as council had to take into consideration human rights issues.
“Those (shacks) we have to deal with, but we have to deal with them with a human face. We try to deal with these vendors, but they are going to be there because of the political and socio-economic meltdown,” Masunda said.
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The mayor, however, pointed out that illegal settlements were harder to remove since the council risked raising the ire of international human rights organisations.
“There are human rights issues when we talk about forcibly removing people from any settlement. One thing we do not want to do be doing is to be doing another Murambatsvina,” Masunda said.
Sources said the “owners” of the tuckshops were demanding $650 monthly rentals from traders intending to use the shacks.