Man dies in Porta Farm clashes

Man dies in Porta Farm clashes

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By Clemence Manyukwe

A MAN died on Thursday afternoon and several shacks were burnt down as police fired teargas to disperse a restive crowd resisting eviction at Porta Farm.

Residents at the farm said they suspected that the deceased, who had been ill for some time, could have succumbed to tear smoke. He was staying alone at the time of his death.

His body was still in his shack early yesterday evening, while other residents waited for the police to ferry it to the mortuary.

Trouble started when people said to have been hired by the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, to demolish dwellings of families who were relocated to other farms early this week, encroached to other dwellings which were still occupied.

Armed with a temporary relief order barring the government from evicting them until it had found a suitable place to accommodate them, the residents confronted the workmen, resulting in skirmishes between the two groups.

Police fired teargas to disperse the angry residents, causing further commotion in the camp. At least two thatched dwellings went up in smoke during the disturbances.

On Thursday night, smoke was still billowing from the shacks that had been burnt down. The owner of one of the burnt dwellings, who insisted on being identified only as straight said he had lost all the property he had worked for all his life.

A sign which read: “ Obey the Court Order”, barricaded a road leading into the camp.

On Wednesday, the High Court stopped the government from evicting the residents and demolishing their dwellings.

The government, however, appears determined to evict the residents, and the demolition of the vacant shacks could have been done to ensure that none of the families already removed would come back to reoccupy them. It could also have been a show of strength, warning the residents that their days were numbered.

The residents’ lawyer, Alec Muchadehama, said: “Trouble started when people who had come to destroy the dwellings of those who left started going for those who are still resident there. We are still trying to establish who exactly was behind the actions of those people, with a view to instituting contempt of court proceedings.” Muchadehama said together with the police, they were still trying to establish the cause of the man’s death.

The former squatters have been resident at Porta Farm since 1991 after the Harare City Council and the government moved the homeless from Epworth, Mbare, Mukuvisi and Gunhill areas.

Some new families had trickled into the farm over the years, nursing hopes that they would be offered suitable accommodation elsewhere.

A High Court order granted by Justice Wilson Sandura in 1995 barred the city council from evicting the residents from the farm until permanent homes with proper infrastructure were constructed for them.
Daily Mirror
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