THE City of Harare has launched a sweeping crackdown on illegal precast walls, with mayor Jacob Mafume defending recent demolitions in Mbare, citing blocked drainage systems that pose serious health hazards.
Mafume revealed that most of the walls were constructed without council approval.
He said the demolitions form part of a broader city-wide enforcement campaign against unauthorised structures.
This initiative has seen the Harare City Council target illegal walls, extensions and developments encroaching on wetlands, road reserves, and drainage pathways, highlighting the tension between private property rights and public safety.
Mafume said the affected residents in Mbare were unco-operative despite repeated warnings from both neighbours and council officials.
“Those precast walls were on a drainage line, and some of the residents along the drains were entirely removed, the whole walls,” Mafume told NewsDay.
“These few residents, what I call delinquent residents, were alerted by their neighbours but they had not voluntarily taken down their walls.”
“The rains are coming; the rains are incessant. As you know, Mbare was built without the slabs that we use for other areas.”
Blocked drainage, he explained, caused water to seep into neighbouring homes, damaging property and creating health risks.
“Any water that does not drain off seeps into the houses and destroys furniture, becoming a health hazard for the other families,” Mafume said.
“The families had agreed that they were going to clear the drains so that the city council could come and repair them.
“We could not wait for them to remove the walls themselves, because as you can see, the rains keep coming back and their neighbours were not happy with the intransigence of their neighbours.”
Mafume also criticised the walls for creating “corridors of darkness,” increasing security risks in residential areas.
“People who work at night are accosted, as people with precast walls create corridors of darkness,” he said.
“We lost a worker who was working in a supermarket last year after being beaten by robbers in a dark place. Very soon, we are going to say that anyone who builds a precast wall must provide lighting.”
The mayor stressed that property owners must consider the broader impact of their developments.
“You cannot create a dam and call it a precast wall and then jam other people’s properties so that they are
damaged.
“We are there as a council to ensure that neighbours live with each other harmoniously,” he said.
Council officials note that many property owners carry out developments without approved building plans, leaving authorities to intervene after complaints arise — often only after structural or environmental damage has occurred. -newsda
