Bulawayo’s decades-old workers’ hostels, built to house single male industrial labourers, have turned into overcrowded family settlements, with one complex designed for 159 occupants now sheltering nearly 1 000 people, exposing a ticking infrastructure crisis in the city.
The startling revelations emerged on Saturday during a visit by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, which is assessing dysfunctional settlements and government housing projects across the country.
The committee chaired by Mazowe Central legislator Maxmore Njanji, toured Cowdray Park’s Hlalani Kuhle/Garikai housing project, Richmond Landfill informal settlement, Burombo Flats and Iminyela suburb.
Briefing legislators, Bulawayo City Council (BCC) officials painted a grim picture of ageing social housing schemes buckling under the weight of population growth, chronic underinvestment and deteriorating infrastructure.
Housing and community services assistant director Zakeu Sibanda said the city’s social housing schemes at Sidojiwe, Burombo and Iminyela were all constructed in the 1950s to accommodate bachelor workers employed in Bulawayo’s once-thriving industries.
However, changing family dynamics and economic realities have transformed them into densely populated family communities, overwhelming infrastructure that was never designed to support such numbers.
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“Burombo was also designed for bachelors and has 159 housing units. Today, instead of accommodating about 159 occupants, it is home to nearly 1 000 people,” Sibanda said.
“This has placed enormous pressure on the sewer and water infrastructure, while vandalism has compounded the situation.”
The revelation exposed the growing urban housing crisis in Bulawayo, where ageing infrastructure is increasingly failing to cope with population pressures amid shrinking municipal resources.
At Sidojiwe Flats, built in the early 1950s, council has for more than two decades been trying to decommission the ageing blocks and relocate residents.
“Sidojiwe was built in the early 1950s for bachelors working in industry,” Sibanda noted..
“Over time they brought their families and the area became congested.
“Around the early 2000s, council resolved to decommission the flats and secured Public Sector Investment Programme funding to build replacement housing under the Millennium Housing Project.”
The relocation exercise saw the construction of 167 housing units in Emganwini, but the programme was disrupted before all residents could be moved.
“Some residents were moved, but 63 serviced stands remained undeveloped.
“Before we could complete the programme, Operation Murambatsvina took place and some of the decommissioned flats were reoccupied. That meant the congestion challenges persisted,” he said.
Council is now constructing 25 additional housing units in Emganwini to facilitate the eventual closure of Sidojiwe, although progress has been hampered by financial constraints.
“Our intention is to relocate the remaining residents from Sidojiwe and completely decommission the flats, in line with a council resolution. Unfortunately, progress remains slow because of funding constraints,” Sibanda said.
At Iminyela, another former bachelor settlement, the city is undertaking a massive upgrading programme aimed at converting communal facilities into individual household amenities.
However, the project requires significant investment.
“The toilets project alone requires more than US$9,5 million, while further investment is needed to upgrade roads, water and sewer infrastructure,” Sibanda said.
The committee’s visit also highlighted the broader collapse of Bulawayo’s post-independence industrial housing model.
Once designed to cater for a booming manufacturing sector, the city’s workers’ hostels have become symbols of urban decay, overcrowding and a deepening housing crisis.
With thousands of residents now crammed into infrastructure built for a fraction of the current population, legislators were confronted with the scale of the challenge facing local authorities.
The parliamentary inquiry is expected to culminate in recommendations aimed at reforming housing policies and accelerating the upgrading of ageing urban settlements.