The government of Zimbabwe has failed to build houses and provide jobs to victims of mass evictions five years ago that left thousands homeless and unemployed, a human rights group said on Friday.
The demolitions blitz — named Murambatsvina, or “drive out filth” — left more than 700 000 people homeless in 2005 and affected the livelihoods of 2,4-million people as small businesses were destroyed.
President Robert Mugabe’s government bulldozed shacks and vendor stands as part of what it described as an urban clean-up campaign.
“Life in Zimbabwe for the poor remains very difficult. The state has done nothing whatsoever to alleviate the plight of those displaced by Operation Murambatsvina,” the Solidarity Peace Trust said in a new report.
“In short, those lives which were devastated by Operation Murambatsvina in 2005 remain poverty-stricken and forgotten.”
Mugabe’s administration promised to build houses for the victims, but little has been done so far.
The Solidarity Peace Trust, a rights group led by church elders in Southern Africa, said victims of Murambatsvina have been living as squatters while some migrated to neighbouring South Africa in search of work.
Brian Raftopolus, the group’s director, said Zimbabwe doesn’t have the means to help victims.
“This present government is really in a desperate situation as most of the support by the international community is coming as humanitarian assistance and not developmental support,” Raftopolus told a press conference in Johannesburg.
Last year the government said two million new homes were needed to provide decent shelter for the entire country, appealing to donors for assistance. — AFP