By A Correspondent| Residents of Belgravia in Harare have raised fresh fears over violence and robbery following the recent tragic events in which a man was callously murdered at a local pub.
David Matambo was allegedly killed by Calisto Murawo at Afro 161 Bar and Restaurant popularly known as KwaBelinda.
The death of the reveler comes in the midst of Belgravia residence call for the local authorities to intervene in the probing of certain recreational activities in which a casino Sunshine City is at the center of the storm.
Residence from Belgravia recently wrote a letter to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) alleging illegal operations at the casino red flagging it as a haven of violence and thuggery.
In a letter to ZACC that has been seen by this publication, residents said, “It has become a cause of concern among residents that the establishment of the casino in the neighborhood is posing a serious threat to the peace and security of the residents which has further raised questions over the casino’s compliance with city by-laws.
“It is our wish that ZACC authorities make security compliance checks into the casino establishment including its legal fulfillment to the regulating laws governing the operations of casinos in the country,” reads the letter.
Zimbabwe National Organisation of Association of Residents Trust (ZNOART) chairperson Cde Shalvar Chikomba has called for the closing of the casinos and bars designated in local residential areas.
“Initially when Harare City council executed a change of land use they were supposed to engage us residents, however because of corruption they went on without our engagement.
“Currently, Belgravia has noise pollution, values are declining and as residents, we think casinos should not be located in areas where people live because it affects them due to crime imagine we already have the recent murder of the reveler, we call for the shut down of this casino too, ” said Chikomba
The business community in Belgravia has implored local authorities to probe ownership and control patterns of certain businesses in the neighborhood.
“It is important that certain business activities be monitored and vetted so that local residents are safer from certain criminal activities, usually some of the businesses do not comply with the country’s registration laws as they will be some corrupt political leaders benefitting from these set-ups and at times if any crime is committed they tend to go unattended because of the political influence they exert on the justice systems,” said a member of the Belgravia business community.
Recently, the country’s immigration police pounced on the casino allegedly investigating the Chinese business owners over the lack of relevant paperwork needed in the operations of the casino.
An official with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage revealed that several casinos run by Chinese are not licensed as they tend to be cleared through political lines, “all we know is that licenses are not issued properly and vetting of casinos is not a transparent process, that’s all I can say,” said the official who declined to be named.