“May these developers be banned. I know some of them are our friends…We have even exposed our women to scandals like Qoki, Your Worship,” @David Coltart confronted over the USD 25 Million @Welshman Ncube publicist Jimmy Chasafara/Sithule Tshuma scam. FULL TEXT

Your Worship. May these developers be banned. I know some of them are our friends. Some of them are building houses that fall on their own when there is wind. Luckily, in Zimbabwe, we are not exposed to the winds that are obtained in areas like Asia. But due to this global warming, Your Worship, we are no longer immune to those weathers. I’m making this submission with a heavy heart, Your Worship, that let’s do a proper screening.

All these developers that have had a developing contract with the city of Bulawayo, doing shoddy work, must all be banned from working with city council, without exception. Number two, I want to speak to the issue of the stance The waiting list in Bulawayo has grown so bad. But what I don’t want to agree or worship is that as Bulawayo residents, we are that poor that we don’t afford all these tents that are being built and developed by the private developers. I think there is something that speaks to unfairness in allocating these tents. I’m not sure how. Maachula East, you can mistake it for Harare Extension. Nkangeni is the same. Pumula South is the same. Are we honestly saying our residents can’t afford these stands? There must be something that we are not doing right as a city that does not extend accurate information to the residents. And we are elected here, Your Worship, by the same residents that are even watching it as now, debating on these peripheral issues and ignoring very important issues that speak directly to their houses.

My heart bleeds, because with the trend that is happening, I’m afraid my daughters and sons would not have houses in Bulawayo, and they would be renting from people from outside this beautiful city. So I’m not sure how people get strength. I personally have failed to get a stand until recently because, but I had the money to buy the stand. Yes. So there is something definitely not right in the allocation of stands and doing these things. And as the beautiful city of Bulawayo, where should our residents go? If our own people managing this city, this city is not being managed by foreigners in all departments. It’s the people from this region and from this city. How does then it happen that people are struggling so much to get these stands? Let’s look into our inner selves and speak into our inner selves as we represent these residents that we came to represent, for sure.

And this speaks to both councillors and the management of this city. We cannot honestly, Your Worship in Bulawayo, fail, [to] have residents, even people in South Africa. You were there when we had to walk that journey. People are passionately willing to buy houses. They have even asked us to come up with committees where they can fund a certain piece of land as a group; then city council can save this after they fund. But those initiatives are failing… And we know those people that are in South Africa. Some of them are victims of Gukurahundi war. They ran out of Zimbabwe. They want to come and build in Bulawayo. We as the city council are becoming the second Gukurahundi by denying them access to land. And those are our brothers.

We have people in the diaspora who can remit direct money to City Council to buy stands here. They are struggling, Your Worship. And we say we are representing them. And when we go with a begging bowl, diaspora is our first point of call when we look for help. But when they are saying availing for us, we are failing. We have even exposed our women to scandals like Qoki, Your Worship. And this speaks directly, my lord, to the failure of our management in engaging this community… Would you imagine a group of women in Canada or in Australia having yet to go to a private developer to look for stands when there is a city which is responsible for distributing land? Some of them are even being robbed by their relatives and friends. trying to get stands in Bulawayo.

But we have offices that represent the city of Bulawayo and who can effectively do that job. Where are we failing, Your Worship? You know, my heart bleeds. I honestly didn’t know how city council works the way it does before I was a council. And I pity you as well, because I’ve known you to be the man that speaks his word. When we are sitting in a situation like this, now, today is the 5th of June, 2025. We have been councillors for nearly two years. What have we achieved, which is progressive for the residents of this beautiful city o Bulawayo? Nothing. And who are the impediments? Ourselves and management. Ourselves and management. Can you honestly introspect and give the residents of Bulawayo a chance? Plus again, let’s engage uhulumende. If we can’t save VC land, uhulumende la si cretene. The same way we are giving these developers territory. We can also do that. Because we are allowing it to private developers. But we want excellent standards. That we cannot enforce on developers. Occupation certificate, your worship. It’s criminal. And we are going to be judged unfairly by court… – @Mxolisi Mahlangu