TENANTS at a Makokoba house whose owner died are reportedly refusing to vacate as Bulawayo City Council (BCC) moves to repossess the property.
This is revealed in the latest council minutes in the request for eviction order against “illegal” tenants at 549 Makokoba, Bulawayo.
According to the minutes, housing and community services director Dictor Khumalo reported last month that the house was shared between Matsura Mapundu and Sibangani Masuku.
“During the year 1986, Mapundu passed on and his widow, Vaidah Matangira, was advised to take occupation of the room and she had not taken up the house on the shared accommodation. Currently, the problem is that the property (has been) occupied by people whose relationship to the registered tenant (Matangira) (is) not clear,” the minutes read.
“The co-tenant Sibangani Masuku had complained that the rights of shared accommodation are being violated in regards to council policy on Makokoba decongestion.”
BCC also indicated that several notices and notes inviting Matangira to discuss the issue of non-occupancy had not yielded any results.
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“It was against this background that the department requested to evict the illegal occupants to facilitate the repossession of the property from Matangira and regularise in terms of the decongestion policy,” council said.
The minutes further state that the department notified other departments, which did not object to the repossession of the property.
“The financial director Tennyson Mpunzi had no objection to the proposal to evict the occupants as they were illegally staying in the property and it might be difficult to enforce payments for council services.
“In view of the above the department proposed that council evicts illegal tenants and regularise the sitting tenant. As such, authority was sought for an eviction order in terms of the law. Thereafter, the property be repossessed from Matangira and then be allocated to Sibangani Masuku in terms of the council decongestion policy,” the minutes added.