Living in fear of demolition

It’s a small room – both kitchen and bedroom. The bed takes up more than half the space available, the rest is occupied by cooking utensils and an unused paraffin stove. Clothes dangle from a cord stretched across the ceiling above the foot of the bed.

To the outsider it is a cluttered shack. To Sheunesu Choga and his family this is home. For more than two years the Chogas have occupied this room in a cabin situated in the high density suburbs of Ruwa. Even with no electricity supplies and no indoor plumbing facilities, it has been shelter from the elements of nature: the unbearably hot October sun, the chilly June nights and the relentless November rain.

It is to this humble room that the young couple brought their new-born baby from the local clinic. Here they have watched this child, Sibongile, learn to crawl and walk. Even without all these sentimental attachments, moving from this place was not an option.

The prevailing economic crisis makes it virtually impossible for people like them to afford accommodation in better environs. Their landlord understands that this family is sustained by odd jobs, which are difficult to find these days. He has always been patient of the frequent delays in rent payments. So as far as the Chogas were concerned, this room– which cost them $125 000 a month - would remain their haven for many years to come. They are no longer so sure of that now.

Like many others renting backyard dwellings in their vicinity, they are now living in constant fear that the municipal authorities and police will turn up and raze their homes to the ground. Theirs are what the powers that be have deemed illegal and unsafe structures - even though some of them have been standing for many years.

In a sense the Chogas are lucky; they have been warned. Contrary to official claims, some of the initial victims of the infamous ‘clean-up operation’ deny ever receiving grace periods prior to its implementation.

“Every day for the past two weeks rumours have been circulating- I can’t recall the number of times I’ve been told they’re coming tomorrow- but they haven’t appeared,” Choga says. “It is not that we are looking forward to it but they should just get it over and done with - I’m reluctant to go anywhere for fear that I will return and find my home gone, my belongings damaged and my family out in the cold.”

Their torturous wait for the inevitable continues. The infamous Mbare, known as a criminal hot spot, has already been ‘cleaned’. As have Tongogara and WhiteCliffe Cooperatives. Ruwa’s turn will come. Demolitions in neighbouring Tafara/ Mabvuku have brought this harsh reality closer to home.

The question on everyone’s lips is: “What will tomorrow bring?”

Names have been changed to protect identities.