First Harare Now Epworth: 16 500 MORE Houses Set For Demolition

16 500 Epworth Houses Face Demolition Over Illegal Land Use

More than 16 500 houses in Epworth face demolition, just days after Harare announced a similar crackdown targeting 22 000 houses. Local authorities say the houses were built on land meant for schools, clinics, and industrial development. Authorities say the affected residents will be relocated — but only after some evictions.

“The houses are sitting on schools, clinics and industrial land”

According to The Herald, the shocking details were revealed during a planning workshop for Harare Metropolitan Province, held on 23 May 2025. Local authorities were presenting updates on their draft master plans to Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Charles Tavengwa.

Epworth Local Board’s spatial planner, Mr Pardon Chibuwe, delivered the grim update.

“One of the findings from the total study that we carried out for the Epworth Master Plan is that we have an estimated 16 500 people who are settled in areas that we are saying are land use conflict areas,” said Mr Chibuwe.

He explained that many houses were built on sites designated for vital services.

“We have areas that have been planned for other industries — industrial, schools, hospital sites, clinics — and all that. These areas have been invaded by illegal land developers,” he said.

Chibuwe blamed the crisis on land barons who he said were “masquerading as genuine land developers”.

“This now poses a challenge on behalf of the local authority, especially to do with how are we then going to locate these people, where are we going to put these people,” he added.

Densification proposed — but some will be evicted

To address the chaos, the Epworth Local Board is proposing a densification strategy. This will involve building upward, subdividing large stands, and regularising certain settlements.

“Through densification, we aim to reduce the size of stands in those areas we have identified, and we also want to promote densification by building up (vertical development) structures that will accommodate more people,” said Mr Chibuwe.

He said about 2 500 stands, each averaging 3 000m², had been identified for this purpose.

But the proposal also includes resettlement and some evictions.

“There are areas where the densification strategy cannot apply, and unfortunately in such cases, people will have to be relocated,” he said.

The suburb is now so overcrowded that there is no space left for a cemetery, industries, schools or churches.

Harare already set to demolish 22 000 houses

This development comes hot on the heels of similar announcements from Harare City Council, which is planning to demolish more than 22 000 illegal structures in the capital. The city’s master plan is still being finalised.

In December 2024, Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume warned:

“The irregular settlements number over 100 000 houses in and around Harare. The illegal houses will soon outnumber the legal rate-paying houses of Harare,” he posted on X.

“These are built on schools, clinics, open spaces and sports grounds. Children are forced to travel 8 km to school. Clinics are non-existent. Houses are flooding. It has to be corrected.”

Mayor Mafume added that densification was part of the long-term solution.

“The city cannot be as short as its mayor; it needs to grow vertically,” he quipped during the workshop.

Chitungwiza Municipality’s director of works, Mr Talent Mushinga, raised similar concerns, saying his town remained largely residential, lacking even a proper central business district.

“We are failing to deal with land barons. Forty-six years on, Chitungwiza still has no focal high street. The town is more of an economic catchment of Harare,” he said.

Government pushes forward with master plans

Minister Tavengwa said three of the four local authorities — Chitungwiza, Epworth and Ruwa — had submitted their draft master plans. Harare had not finalised its own due to funding issues.

“We are now in the consultation stage, consulting the general public. The delays were mainly due to funding,” said the minister.

He said the ongoing planning process was in line with President Mnangagwa’s 2023 “Call to Action” initiative, which aims to modernise service delivery by 2030.