244 buildings condemned in Bulawayo
Vusumuzi Dube, Deputy Radar Editor
THE Bulawayo City Council has condemned 244 properties including Highlanders Football Club offices as dilapidated and issued urgent renovation notices to their owners, warning of potential enforcement action if repairs are not carried out promptly.
Of major concern is that despite issuing the notices to the property owners, 169 have ignored them, making no attempt to renovate. According to the latest council report, just six property owners have complied with the renovation orders, while 69 have partially renovated their buildings.
Of the condemned buildings, 239 are in the Central Business District (CBD), with the remaining five located in high-density suburbs. Some of the most prominent buildings included in the list are the Highlanders Football Club offices along Robert Mugabe Way, which the local authority revealed received their first notice on 31 August 2024.
“In the month of June, 20 buildings were revisited and, of those, only one had begun working towards complying with our instructions to do some repair works on some components of their structures. Engagements were in the process to push all property owners to comply,” reads the council report.
Fort Street has the highest number of condemned buildings at 41, the most prominent being the Time Bank Investment building and several properties owned by the Naran family. Robert Mugabe Way has 35 condemned properties, including the Highlanders offices, Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa, Matopos Mansions, Jai Hind Properties, Rodor Properties, Giga Investments, Alasco and Grill Mer (Private) Limited.
Fife Street also has a high number of condemned buildings, which include the Zimbabwe Football Association offices, Trustees of St Gabriel’s Home, Local Authority Pension Fund offices, TV Sales and Hire, and Luxor House.
Other street figures in terms of the number of condemned buildings include: Herbert Chitepo (28), Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo (23), Jason Moyo (19), Josiah Tongogara (17), Railway Avenue (nine), Leopold Takawira (two), and Lobengula Street, which has eight condemned buildings.
In recent years, the city has experienced an unprecedented increase in the number of abandoned, neglected and derelict buildings in the CBD. As per statutory obligations, the local authority issues notices to identified properties and also has latitude, in terms of statutory provisions, to carry out operations to remove the offending danger or nuisance to the public at the cost of the landlord.
BCC also has the authority to repossess such properties as guided by the Titles Registration and Derelict Lands Act (Chapter 20:20).
In 2017, the local authority passed a resolution to demolish a building that was burnt down in an inferno, as it now posed a danger to the public. However, the process is still pending as council awaits a court order to proceed with the demolition. The building, which is at the corner of 11th Avenue and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street near Magnet House, is owned by Nicktrend Investment Services and has been vacant for some years.
The Bulawayo City Council’s inspectorate conducts building inspections in accordance with the Bulawayo (Buildings, Roads and Streets) By-laws of 1971.
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