A court in Zimbabwe on Monday provisionally barred the eviction of about 400 squatters from a suburb in the capital, Harare, a human rights lawyer said.
Zvikomborero Chadambuka, of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, said the High Court in Harare ordered that his clients should not be evicted from Mbare suburb, where they have been living in makeshift shelters for the past five months or so.
”We got the provisional order we were looking for, to the effect that they shouldn’t be evicted from the area,” said Chadambuka.
Most of the 338 squatters and their children have been living rough in Mbare since the demolition in May of houses they were staying in under a controversial police operation dubbed Operation Restore Order.
The blitz was mounted to rid Zimbabwe’s cities of what the government considered illegal structures.
Chadambuka said Monday’s court order was obtained with the consent of state lawyers.
”It was by consent. The city of Harare said they never threatened eviction,” Chadambuka said.
Last week, the squatters said they had been ordered by police and municipal authorities to leave the area by Friday.
Chadambuka said his clients will now be seeking a final order from the court barring their eviction until the authorities find them an alternative place to stay.
The United Nations estimates that at least 700 000 people were made homeless and jobless by Operation Restore Order, which was launched countrywide in May.
Police backed by bulldozers levelled houses, cottages and shacks, as well as workshops and flea-market stalls.
President Robert Mugabe’s government has defended the operation.
It has promised to build hundreds of thousands of new houses over the next few years, something that critics say the cash-strapped government will find difficult to do. — Sapa-DPA