Conversion of “Bachelor” into Family Hostels in Mbare, Harare: Lessons from South Africa

This chapter is premised on the idea that if the bachelor hostels in Zimbabwe had been “familised”, the decadent situation characterising them now could have been avoided. Apparently, South Africa has made significant strides in providing decent housing and habitats to its citizens since democracy in 1994; it converted the male-only flats into family hostels. This has not been the case in Zimbabwe; since 1980, when it attained independence, the country’s cities have failed to provide decent accommodation to urban residents. Like all other municipalities in Zimbabwe, Harare had an opportunity to convert the colonially labelled “bachelor” accommodation into family hostels, but this did not happen. This could have averted the disasters resulting from the overcrowding which has resulted from high occupancy rates in the existing flats/hostels, most of which have a single room which the whole family now shares. The average nuclear family in Zimbabwe is six persons. The single room is now shared between two or so households. In the past, the rooms were regularly inspected, and no cooking was allowed, but now various services including lighting and heating are offered. Frequent power cuts are experienced. The ablutions are in a filthy state. The lack of garbage collections and frequent sewer bursts make the general habitat squalid and an eyesore. An unwelcoming stench is the order of the day. The dwellers have somewhat adapted to these conditions, but they are nothing but a manifestation of the violation of Section 73 of the country’s Constitution (Amendment No. 20 of 2013) which spells out Environmental Rights. For the dwellers, it is “business as usual”. There is much to learn from how South Africa has sought to deal with the adverse situation of not converting bachelor flats into family housing. The chapter uses literature and document review to bring facts into clear light.