![](\"http:\/\/www.herald.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/A-TREE-GROWS-ON-TOP-OF-MATAPI-BLOCK-7.jpg\")
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/p>\n
Mbare merits distinction as the principal home of Harare vendors, emerging music talent, flagship radio, one of the most popular stadia and the nerve centre of countrywide bus tours.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
These features, along with a century of cultural strivings, give Mbare a cosmopolitan resume, making it one of the most famous suburbs in the country, and for some, a legend synonymous with Harare itself.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
After all, the capital city derived its name from the high-density suburb, and the contemporary interpretation of \u201cHarare\u201d as the hive of nocturnal hustlers is perhaps best represented by Mbare. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
However, Mbare is a case of fronting a radiant face while the body is sick, if deplorable living conditions in the suburb are anything to go by.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A recent visit by Far South<\/i> to Mbare’s famous flats, Matapi, Magaba, Matererini and Chishawasha, established what can only be called \u201cdisservice delivery\u201d by the city council, negligence by the residents themselves and severe health hazards which tens of thousands brave every day.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As if to nail the final indictment on municipal negligence, a fully grown tree waves on the roof Block 4, Matapi, tearing through the structure and exposing families to every mood of weather \u2013 this just a stone’s throw away from Harare City Council’s Mbare office.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe wake up in a dam whenever rain falls without warning,\u201d a Block 4 resident opens up to Herald Features. \u201cWe have no means to guarantee our household appliances from damage as the council no longer lifts a finger to renovate the flats.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The roots of the tree have cracked a sizeable segment of the roof.\u00a0 Damage to appliances is not even the last catastrophe as children miss school, down with recurrent cold bouts, during the rainy season.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Several hostels at the right end of the flat have been disused after being burnt in an electrically induced inferno. Affected families were evicted to Chishawasha flats where entertainment centres, colloquially dubbed sea-holes, were partitioned using cardboards to house the newcomers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The water situation threatens grave risks at the Chiwashawasha flats where heaps of raw sewage in dysfunctional toilets and bathrooms are the order of the day.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In several instances, steady streaks of slime trickle down make-do glass, paper and tape windows to one huge receptacle downstairs.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A brutal odour greets visitors on the ground floor of Block 7, Matapi, wrenching the stomach and thickening as one courses around the staircase. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“This is how we are living, my brother. What can we do without water for so many families?” Amando Maweni (35) queries rhetorically as he gestures to the dysfunctional ablution facilities which hundreds throng daily.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Flies buzz all over the place, evidently having a busy working day from one puddle of indoor sewage to another. Stagnant water which seems to have collected for days exports its own distinctive stench which invites an imaginary comparison to a concoction of stale brew and vomit. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Across the other end, empty bottles, stale sadza and other objects litter another stagnant pool of water, by now degenerated from the liquid of life to a hostile substance bordering on the opposite.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
224 families are home in this flat. Maweni was born here. He has been a Matapi resident for as far as he can look back. And things have only been changing for the worse.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cCouncil has long stopped giving us water. We queue at their office lot where there is a constant supply, although it is not nearly as much of a burning necessity there as it is here,\u201d Maweni says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe queue for hours for our turns but obviously not everyone can afford to wait that long,” he says.\u00a0 \u201cIn the end, no one takes it upon themselves to relieve the toilets after use. The squat hole is always full and running over. So people just use the toilet like that and it is cleaned once in the morning everyday,\u201d Maweni says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the square downstairs, women do their laundry while they chat animatedly, apparently oblivious to their degenerate settings. Just by the entrance, a few vendors sell fruits, maputi, cigarettes, sweets and other dollar-for-fistful items.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Disused shelves are stacked into each other on the ground floor, adjacent to sackfuls of refuse and rolls of fence.\u00a0 The paint has washing into irregular peels for years, and the walls conspicuously pleading for a few licks of paint.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThings have become even more difficult with the increased frequency of Zesa blackouts. Yesternight electricity only came around 11PM and was gone by the time we woke up. This is such a drain on the little we have,\u201d Maweni says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Jephtah Chirisa (62) has lived in Matapi for 35 years. \u201cWe cannot speak of a time when life here was exactly a paradise but there was a time when the flats were more habitable,\u201d Chirisa says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cBack then, council would service the flats after every five years. This year is the 20th since the flats were last serviced. Since 1995, collecting rentals and rates is the only way council is involved,\u201d Chirisa says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The residents pay a monthly rent of $45, marked down from a slightly higher figure, but they still complain that amount is a rip-off, given poor service delivery by the city council. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cNothing has been repaired for that long. At least we could put a reasonable part of that $45 dollars to good use; we could, for example, contribute towards taps and other indispensables\u201d Chirisa says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWhen we came here, these were supposed to be temporary structures and we had been promised new homes in Sanganai. Many years have since passed and we have not received anything save for further promises,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Chirisa told Far South<\/i> that tuberculosis and diarrhea were rife in the flats because of the degenerate living conditions. \u201cLast year, five members of one family succumbed to TB,\u201d he says. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A resident of Chiwashawasha says council had withdrawn regular services when the flats were let to families, moving on from the original arrangement whereby they were supposed to house bachelors employed in Harare. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cCouncil used to deploy security in the flats. Once the guards were discharged, vandals broke loose stealing basic necessities like taps for sale,\u201d says the resident who would not be named.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThe taps are now too old and if ever water comes it is a rusty trickle which is unfit for consumption. We do not see the point of complaining to newspapers. The Housing ministry must come here and tell us if this is the way they want us to live,\u201d he says. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Harare City Council spokesperson Michael Chideme says lack of funds is stalling renovations. \u201cThe council plans to upgrade the rooms into family units, so that every family will have its own ablution facilities. However, at the moment council has no money to undertake the project,\u201d Chideme says.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Mbare is a site of intrigues but one assessment is inevitable. The suburb sits on a health time bomb of pestilent proportions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mbare's Sick Underbelly | Blockspace<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=452\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mbare's Sick Underbelly | Blockspace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A tree grows on top of Matapi flats (Photo: The Herald) Mbare merits distinction as the principal home of Harare vendors, emerging music talent, flagship radio, one of the most popular stadia and the nerve centre of countrywide bus tours. These features, along with a century of cultural strivings, give Mbare a cosmopolitan resume, making it one of the most famous suburbs in the country, and for some, a legend synonymous with Harare itself. After all, the capital city derived its name from the high-density suburb, and the contemporary interpretation of \u201cHarare\u201d as the hive of nocturnal hustlers is perhaps best represented by Mbare. \u00a0 However, Mbare is a case of fronting a radiant face while the body is sick, if deplorable living conditions in the suburb are anything to go by. A recent visit by Far South to Mbare’s famous flats, Matapi, Magaba, Matererini and Chishawasha, established what can only be called \u201cdisservice delivery\u201d by the city council, negligence by the residents themselves and severe health hazards which tens of thousands brave every day. As if to nail the final indictment on municipal negligence, a fully grown tree waves on the roof Block 4, Matapi, tearing through the structure and exposing families to every mood of weather \u2013 this just a stone’s throw away from Harare City Council’s Mbare office. \u201cWe wake up in a dam whenever rain falls without warning,\u201d a Block 4 resident opens up to Herald Features. \u201cWe have no means to guarantee our household appliances from damage as the council no longer lifts a finger to renovate the flats.\u201d The roots of the tree have cracked a sizeable segment of the roof.\u00a0 Damage to appliances is not even the last catastrophe as children miss school, down with recurrent cold bouts, during the rainy season. Several hostels at the right end of the flat have been disused after being burnt in an electrically induced inferno. Affected families were evicted to Chishawasha flats where entertainment centres, colloquially dubbed sea-holes, were partitioned using cardboards to house the newcomers. The water situation threatens grave risks at the Chiwashawasha flats where heaps of raw sewage in dysfunctional toilets and bathrooms are the order of the day. In several instances, steady streaks of slime trickle down make-do glass, paper and tape windows to one huge receptacle downstairs. A brutal odour greets visitors on the ground floor of Block 7, Matapi, wrenching the stomach and thickening as one courses around the staircase. “This is how we are living, my brother. What can we do without water for so many families?” Amando Maweni (35) queries rhetorically as he gestures to the dysfunctional ablution facilities which hundreds throng daily. Flies buzz all over the place, evidently having a busy working day from one puddle of indoor sewage to another. Stagnant water which seems to have collected for days exports its own distinctive stench which invites an imaginary comparison to a concoction of stale brew and vomit. Across the other end, empty bottles, stale sadza and other objects litter another stagnant pool of water, by now degenerated from the liquid of life to a hostile substance bordering on the opposite. 224 families are home in this flat. Maweni was born here. He has been a Matapi resident for as far as he can look back. And things have only been changing for the worse. \u201cCouncil has long stopped giving us water. We queue at their office lot where there is a constant supply, although it is not nearly as much of a burning necessity there as it is here,\u201d Maweni says. \u201cWe queue for hours for our turns but obviously not everyone can afford to wait that long,” he says.\u00a0 \u201cIn the end, no one takes it upon themselves to relieve the toilets after use. The squat hole is always full and running over. So people just use the toilet like that and it is cleaned once in the morning everyday,\u201d Maweni says. In the square downstairs, women do their laundry while they chat animatedly, apparently oblivious to their degenerate settings. Just by the entrance, a few vendors sell fruits, maputi, cigarettes, sweets and other dollar-for-fistful items. Disused shelves are stacked into each other on the ground floor, adjacent to sackfuls of refuse and rolls of fence.\u00a0 The paint has washing into irregular peels for years, and the walls conspicuously pleading for a few licks of paint. \u201cThings have become even more difficult with the increased frequency of Zesa blackouts. Yesternight electricity only came around 11PM and was gone by the time we woke up. This is such a drain on the little we have,\u201d Maweni says. Jephtah Chirisa (62) has lived in Matapi for 35 years. \u201cWe cannot speak of a time when life here was exactly a paradise but there was a time when the flats were more habitable,\u201d Chirisa says. \u201cBack then, council would service the flats after every five years. This year is the 20th since the flats were last serviced. Since 1995, collecting rentals and rates is the only way council is involved,\u201d Chirisa says. The residents pay a monthly rent of $45, marked down from a slightly higher figure, but they still complain that amount is a rip-off, given poor service delivery by the city council. \u201cNothing has been repaired for that long. At least we could put a reasonable part of that $45 dollars to good use; we could, for example, contribute towards taps and other indispensables\u201d Chirisa says. \u201cWhen we came here, these were supposed to be temporary structures and we had been promised new homes in Sanganai. Many years have since passed and we have not received anything save for further promises,\u201d he says. Chirisa told Far South that tuberculosis and diarrhea were rife in the flats because of the degenerate living conditions. \u201cLast year, five members of one family succumbed to TB,\u201d he says. A resident of Chiwashawasha says council had withdrawn regular services when the flats were let to families, moving on from\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=452\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blockspace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-30T08:39:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-26T03:50:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.herald.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/A-TREE-GROWS-ON-TOP-OF-MATAPI-BLOCK-7.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"hardsouth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"hardsouth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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\/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mbare's Sick Underbelly | Blockspace","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=452","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mbare's Sick Underbelly | Blockspace","og_description":"A tree grows on top of Matapi flats (Photo: The Herald) Mbare merits distinction as the principal home of Harare vendors, emerging music talent, flagship radio, one of the most popular stadia and the nerve centre of countrywide bus tours. These features, along with a century of cultural strivings, give Mbare a cosmopolitan resume, making it one of the most famous suburbs in the country, and for some, a legend synonymous with Harare itself. After all, the capital city derived its name from the high-density suburb, and the contemporary interpretation of \u201cHarare\u201d as the hive of nocturnal hustlers is perhaps best represented by Mbare. \u00a0 However, Mbare is a case of fronting a radiant face while the body is sick, if deplorable living conditions in the suburb are anything to go by. A recent visit by Far South to Mbare’s famous flats, Matapi, Magaba, Matererini and Chishawasha, established what can only be called \u201cdisservice delivery\u201d by the city council, negligence by the residents themselves and severe health hazards which tens of thousands brave every day. As if to nail the final indictment on municipal negligence, a fully grown tree waves on the roof Block 4, Matapi, tearing through the structure and exposing families to every mood of weather \u2013 this just a stone’s throw away from Harare City Council’s Mbare office. \u201cWe wake up in a dam whenever rain falls without warning,\u201d a Block 4 resident opens up to Herald Features. \u201cWe have no means to guarantee our household appliances from damage as the council no longer lifts a finger to renovate the flats.\u201d The roots of the tree have cracked a sizeable segment of the roof.\u00a0 Damage to appliances is not even the last catastrophe as children miss school, down with recurrent cold bouts, during the rainy season. Several hostels at the right end of the flat have been disused after being burnt in an electrically induced inferno. Affected families were evicted to Chishawasha flats where entertainment centres, colloquially dubbed sea-holes, were partitioned using cardboards to house the newcomers. The water situation threatens grave risks at the Chiwashawasha flats where heaps of raw sewage in dysfunctional toilets and bathrooms are the order of the day. In several instances, steady streaks of slime trickle down make-do glass, paper and tape windows to one huge receptacle downstairs. A brutal odour greets visitors on the ground floor of Block 7, Matapi, wrenching the stomach and thickening as one courses around the staircase. “This is how we are living, my brother. What can we do without water for so many families?” Amando Maweni (35) queries rhetorically as he gestures to the dysfunctional ablution facilities which hundreds throng daily. Flies buzz all over the place, evidently having a busy working day from one puddle of indoor sewage to another. Stagnant water which seems to have collected for days exports its own distinctive stench which invites an imaginary comparison to a concoction of stale brew and vomit. Across the other end, empty bottles, stale sadza and other objects litter another stagnant pool of water, by now degenerated from the liquid of life to a hostile substance bordering on the opposite. 224 families are home in this flat. Maweni was born here. He has been a Matapi resident for as far as he can look back. And things have only been changing for the worse. \u201cCouncil has long stopped giving us water. We queue at their office lot where there is a constant supply, although it is not nearly as much of a burning necessity there as it is here,\u201d Maweni says. \u201cWe queue for hours for our turns but obviously not everyone can afford to wait that long,” he says.\u00a0 \u201cIn the end, no one takes it upon themselves to relieve the toilets after use. The squat hole is always full and running over. So people just use the toilet like that and it is cleaned once in the morning everyday,\u201d Maweni says. In the square downstairs, women do their laundry while they chat animatedly, apparently oblivious to their degenerate settings. Just by the entrance, a few vendors sell fruits, maputi, cigarettes, sweets and other dollar-for-fistful items. Disused shelves are stacked into each other on the ground floor, adjacent to sackfuls of refuse and rolls of fence.\u00a0 The paint has washing into irregular peels for years, and the walls conspicuously pleading for a few licks of paint. \u201cThings have become even more difficult with the increased frequency of Zesa blackouts. Yesternight electricity only came around 11PM and was gone by the time we woke up. This is such a drain on the little we have,\u201d Maweni says. Jephtah Chirisa (62) has lived in Matapi for 35 years. \u201cWe cannot speak of a time when life here was exactly a paradise but there was a time when the flats were more habitable,\u201d Chirisa says. \u201cBack then, council would service the flats after every five years. This year is the 20th since the flats were last serviced. Since 1995, collecting rentals and rates is the only way council is involved,\u201d Chirisa says. The residents pay a monthly rent of $45, marked down from a slightly higher figure, but they still complain that amount is a rip-off, given poor service delivery by the city council. \u201cNothing has been repaired for that long. At least we could put a reasonable part of that $45 dollars to good use; we could, for example, contribute towards taps and other indispensables\u201d Chirisa says. \u201cWhen we came here, these were supposed to be temporary structures and we had been promised new homes in Sanganai. Many years have since passed and we have not received anything save for further promises,\u201d he says. Chirisa told Far South that tuberculosis and diarrhea were rife in the flats because of the degenerate living conditions. \u201cLast year, five members of one family succumbed to TB,\u201d he says. A resident of Chiwashawasha says council had withdrawn regular services when the flats were let to families, moving on from","og_url":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=452","og_site_name":"Blockspace","article_published_time":"2015-10-30T08:39:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-26T03:50:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.herald.co.zw\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/A-TREE-GROWS-ON-TOP-OF-MATAPI-BLOCK-7.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"hardsouth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"hardsouth","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=452#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/?p=452"},"author":{"name":"hardsouth","@id":"https:\/\/blockspaceballads.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a336a678f28eacb341ce63c6b84b17d0"},"headline":"Mbare’s Sick 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A tree grows on top of Matapi flats (Photo: The Herald) Mbare merits distinction as the principal home of Harare vendors, emerging music talent, flagship radio, one of the most popular stadia and the nerve centre of countrywide bus tours. These features, along with a century of cultural strivings, give Mbare a cosmopolitan resume, making it one of the most famous suburbs in the country, and for some, a legend synonymous with Harare itself. After all, the capital city derived its name from the high-density suburb, and the contemporary interpretation of \u201cHarare\u201d as the hive of nocturnal hustlers is perhaps best represented by Mbare. \u00a0 However, Mbare is a case of fronting a radiant face while the body is sick, if deplorable living conditions in the suburb are anything to go by. A recent visit by Far South to Mbare’s famous flats, Matapi, Magaba, Matererini and Chishawasha, established what can only be called \u201cdisservice delivery\u201d by the city council, negligence by the residents themselves and severe health hazards which tens of thousands brave every day. As if to nail the final indictment on municipal negligence, a fully grown tree waves on the roof Block 4, Matapi, tearing through the structure and exposing families to every mood of weather \u2013 this just a stone’s throw away from Harare City Council’s Mbare office. \u201cWe wake up in a dam whenever rain falls without warning,\u201d a Block 4 resident opens up to Herald Features. \u201cWe have no means to guarantee our household appliances from damage as the council no longer lifts a finger to renovate the flats.\u201d The roots of the tree have cracked a sizeable segment of the roof.\u00a0 Damage to appliances is not even the last catastrophe as children miss school, down with recurrent cold bouts, during the rainy season. Several hostels at the right end of the flat have been disused after being burnt in an electrically induced inferno. Affected families were evicted to Chishawasha flats where entertainment centres, colloquially dubbed sea-holes, were partitioned using cardboards to house the newcomers. The water situation threatens grave risks at the Chiwashawasha flats where heaps of raw sewage in dysfunctional toilets and bathrooms are the order of the day. In several instances, steady streaks of slime trickle down make-do glass, paper and tape windows to one huge receptacle downstairs. A brutal odour greets visitors on the ground floor of Block 7, Matapi, wrenching the stomach and thickening as one courses around the staircase. “This is how we are living, my brother. What can we do without water for so many families?” Amando Maweni (35) queries rhetorically as he gestures to the dysfunctional ablution facilities which hundreds throng daily. Flies buzz all over the place, evidently having a busy working day from one puddle of indoor sewage to another. Stagnant water which seems to have collected for days exports its own distinctive stench which invites an imaginary comparison to a concoction of stale brew and vomit. Across the other end, empty bottles, stale sadza and other objects litter another stagnant pool of water, by now degenerated from the liquid of life to a hostile substance bordering on the opposite. 224 families are home in this flat. Maweni was born here. He has been a Matapi resident for as far as he can look back. And things have only been changing for the worse. \u201cCouncil has long stopped giving us water. We queue at their office lot where there is a constant supply, although it is not nearly as much of a burning necessity there as it is here,\u201d Maweni says. \u201cWe queue for hours for our turns but obviously not everyone can afford to wait that long,” he says.\u00a0 \u201cIn the end, no one takes it upon themselves to relieve the toilets after use. The squat hole is always full and running over. So people just use the toilet like that and it is cleaned once in the morning everyday,\u201d Maweni says. In the square downstairs, women do their laundry while they chat animatedly, apparently oblivious to their degenerate settings. Just by the entrance, a few vendors sell fruits, maputi, cigarettes, sweets and other dollar-for-fistful items. Disused shelves are stacked into each other on the ground floor, adjacent to sackfuls of refuse and rolls of fence.\u00a0 The paint has washing into irregular peels for years, and the walls conspicuously pleading for a few licks of paint. \u201cThings have become even more difficult with the increased frequency of Zesa blackouts. Yesternight electricity only came around 11PM and was gone by the time we woke up. This is such a drain on the little we have,\u201d Maweni says. Jephtah Chirisa (62) has lived in Matapi for 35 years. \u201cWe cannot speak of a time when life here was exactly a paradise but there was a time when the flats were more habitable,\u201d Chirisa says. \u201cBack then, council would service the flats after every five years. This year is the 20th since the flats were last serviced. Since 1995, collecting rentals and rates is the only way council is involved,\u201d Chirisa says. The residents pay a monthly rent of $45, marked down from a slightly higher figure, but they still complain that amount is a rip-off, given poor service delivery by the city council. \u201cNothing has been repaired for that long. At least we could put a reasonable part of that $45 dollars to good use; we could, for example, contribute towards taps and other indispensables\u201d Chirisa says. \u201cWhen we came here, these were supposed to be temporary structures and we had been promised new homes in Sanganai. Many years have since passed and we have not received anything save for further promises,\u201d he says. Chirisa told Far South that tuberculosis and diarrhea were rife in the flats because of the degenerate living conditions. \u201cLast year, five members of one family succumbed to TB,\u201d he says. A resident of Chiwashawasha says council had withdrawn regular services when the flats were let to families, moving on from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108,105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-environment"],"yoast_head":"\n