The Sunday Mail
Justin Chokore (30) has lived in the populous and popular semi-squatter settlement of Caledonia which is situated on the outskirts of Harare, for almost 10 years, having moved into the area from Tafara due to rising rentals.
Sisters Tatenda and Tendai Karimanzira, who sell roasted mealie cobs at a hyperactive shopping centre known as Gazebo or PaChiMbare Mbare, have lived at the settlement since they were five. A lot of hustling goes on at the place whose “dog-eat-dog” style of life resembles that of Harare’s oldest suburb, Mbare. A largely dilapidated road network takes you to this centre, at the heart of Caledonia, where the contrasting fortunes of the over 20 000 families that reside on a piece of land that stretches only 5 km, are as striking as the juxtaposition of the housing structures found in the settlement. Land invasions, illegal parcelling of State land and sand poaching are the devils that have stalked Caledonia, where thousands of home-seekers have also been duped of their hard-earned cash by sprouting housing co-operatives.Chokore and the Karimanzira sisters have almost similar tales to tell about the stagnant housing development, outbreak of diseases, rising prostitution and the poor provision of social services at the settlement that came into existence when thousands of families occupied Caledonia farm at the height of land resettlement in 2000. There is only one small clinic in the area and no formal school exists with some students having to attend lessons in some makeshift classrooms.
“I came here in 2005, and this place was almost like a bush. We have witnessed some developments here and there but nothing much has progressed.
“We yearn for proper housing structures, running water and electricity but all this has remained just but a pipe-dream. We feel neglected,” said Chokore who was playing a game of draughts with friends at a firewood selling point just a few metres from the Gazebo shopping centre.
“From the years back when we used to kill snakes in our yard almost on daily basis, nothing much has changed.
“In fact, social vices such as prostitution and illegal trading have been on the rise. Only God knows when sanity will come to this place,” said Tatenda who was in the company of her sister on their way to Kamunhu Shopping Centre in Mabvuku to buy fresh mealie cobs. Just another few metres away is a seemingly out of place thatched round hut and further down the bumpy dust road is a structure that resembles a deserted rural homestead. Yet just across, lies neatly built houses belonging to another of the many housing co-operatives that have sprouted over the years in Caledonia and now count up to 20. Such is the haphazard nature of the housing structures in Caledonia, a piece of land that was once a hub of farming activity until the turn of the millennium when Government acquired it for resettlement, especially to curb Harare’s rising population. Caledonia residents have soldiered on, hoping for a better tomorrow, hoping for the “real transformation” of the area into a real and properly planned urban area with basics such as water, electricity, schools and clinics. There is a ray of hope, though, as a recently formed consortium of housing co-operatives under the leadership of Mr Nelson Mandizvidza, that is working in conjunction with local government, has hit the ground running and has already laid the groundwork for the transformation of the Caledonia settlement. Caledonia Eastville Housing Development Consortium was launched three weeks ago with the aim of bringing sanity in the area as well as flush out land barons who are parcelling out State land.
“In line with Government’s economic blueprint Zim-Asset which advocates for proper housing for all, we have since formed a consortium that brings together 20 co-operatives in Caledonia.
“This is a housing development and land service consortium, formed out of the need to co-ordinate development in a newly established suburb called Caledonia Eastville.
“We have a three-year development plan and we are targeting to provide electricity, piped water, roads and other essential services in Caledonia.
“The consortium will provide security to all individuals who have been properly allocated stands. No land will be sold in the area called Caledonia Eastville without the approval of the consortium.
“We have approached the Ministry of Local Government to consult on how we can start regularising some of the structures and synchronise all the development that will be done,” said Mandizvidza. A number of residents who spoke to The Sunday Mail expressed optimism as they all hoped the consortium would run the project transparently.
“My only worry is how the development subscriptions will be handled. Hundreds of people have lost their money to some of these housing co-operatives,” said a middle-aged shop owner at Gazebo, whose business has been affected by the poor road networks.
“Right now, some of our major suppliers have stopped bringing products … look at the road outside, they fear for their trucks,” she added.
