"To date, this High Court order remains extant, valid and fully binding upon the City of Harare as it has neither been set aside nor stayed by any competent court of law," the lawyers wrote. The post Bulldozers, court order collide in Harare appeared first on newsday .
NEW details have emerged showing that the City of Harare went ahead with demolitions in St Martin’s despite being warned by lawyers representing the residents that the operation breached an existing High Court order unless a fresh court order was obtained.
The warning, contained in correspondence seen by NewsDay, raises fresh questions over the legality of the demolitions, which have left families stranded and counting significant losses.
Harare mayor Jacob Mafume, however, defended the operation, insisting that the law must be strictly followed to restore order in the capital.
Macheyo Law Chambers, representing St Martin’s residents, wrote to the Harare City Council’s acting chamber secretary, Ernest Mushava, on August 17, accusing the local authority of defying a 2025 High Court order that stopped the demolitions.
“To date, this High Court order remains extant, valid and fully binding upon the City of Harare as it has neither been set aside nor stayed by any competent court of law,” the lawyers wrote.
They threatened to institute contempt of court proceedings against the “town clerk, responsible directors and City of Harare”, seeking punitive legal remedies and personal costs against the officials involved.
Harare South legislator Trymore Kanopula also condemned the demolitions, accusing council of carrying out the operation without a valid court order.
Responding to the St Martin’s demolitions, Mushava said the residents failed to comply with several council requirements.
“There are issues of compliance. There are services which need to be put on the land before one can even think of building,” Mushava told NewsDay.
“These are road designs, sewer designs, water designs. Then these should be approved by council, then a certificate of compliance is issued and then move to the next stage.”
Mushava said council was aware of the court order, but argued that residents had continued building despite being instructed not to do so.
“We have heard of the court order but after the court they were told not to build and we saw some people building and this is why they were demolished. The residents have not complied on several issues and this is why there were demolitions,” he said.
The dispute comes amid a deepening housing crisis in Harare, where land barons, often allegedly linked to political interests, have been illegally parcelling out State and council land to unsuspecting home-seekers.
According to a council report, coordinated land invasions intensified around August 2023 being driven by politicians across the political divide, land barons and general invaders.
In some cases, invaders have allegedly used documents containing scanned or forged signatures, including offer letters, agreements of sale and title deeds.
Land barons have also reportedly exploited a legal loophole based on the premise that once a structure has been completed and occupied for 24 hours, it cannot be demolished without a court order.
Last week, council announced that Local Government minister Daniel Garwe will tour illegal settlements in the capital as part of efforts to restore order and lawful land administration.
However, residents and civic groups have dismissed the planned tour as a public relations exercise, arguing that the authorities know who the alleged land barons are.
Combined Harare Residents Association director Reuben Akili said the exercise could be a waste of time, as many affected residents only discover the extent of their predicament after they had already been caught up in eviction and demolition processes.
“The most affected members are under co-operatives. When co-operative chairpersons are given eviction orders, most of them do not communicate with their members,” Akili said.
“There is nothing on this because they know who the land barons are. Harare City Council also knows the land barons and they are not reporting them to police.”
Akili alleged that some council officials were complicit in the land crisis, adding that the local authority’s planning department was “in shambles”.
Harare Residents Trust director Precious Shumba echoed similar concerns, saying the ministry should not pretend to be unaware of the identities of land barons.
“Garwe should not pretend as if he does not know the land barons. He knows the list of land barons,” Shumba said.
“Touring the illegal settlements — they just want to sanitise something which they know.”
Shumba called on the ministry to make public the findings of the commission of inquiry and Justice Uchena’s recommendations.
The commission’s report, which allegedly contains details of the land barons involved in parcelling out council and State land, is yet to be made public.
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