UMZINGWANE villagers have accused the local authority of illegally collecting money from them using a lease with the option to purchase arrangement which contravenes the housing policy and local government manual for urban development.
The council has reportedly been collecting money from individuals who have not developed their stands since 2010, but the money is not going towards processing their title deeds.
“The council is a non-profit making organisation which means payment of lease made after purchasing is called a profit and it is illegal,” said one of the affected villagers Amhlophe Sibanda.
A letter written by Umzingwane Rural District Council (URDC) dated May 17, 2023 signed by one B Ndlovu, an administrator at the local authority, indicated that all beneficiaries of land allocations must get a lease contract as required by the council’s housing policy.
The letter also states that a lease document that grants the right to develop a stand under pre-determined conditions to a stand beneficiary is needed.
Clarifying on the issue of aspiring homeseekers who purchased stands from a private land developer, the council said: “The aforementioned client purchased a stand from a private developer Enfund Construction in Umzingwane RDC. The stand that the client bought is still leased because there are no title deeds for it.”
However, villagers argued that the lease payment with the option to buy was an unacceptable practice, which is a criminal offence and the council should be held accountable by a court of law.
“Council is already holding lease funds collected from stand owners (which by implication should be payments for title deeds), so the government or Ministry of Local Government is thus obliged to demand the collected money since the local authority has no power to issue title deeds,” Sibanda said.
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The villagers are also demanding lease agreements premised on modern by-laws.
“We … are kindly inviting the Minister of Local Government to see the abnormalities in our district,” he added.
