Bulawayo Civil Servants Left Stranded in Decade-Long $1.5m Housing Scam

Hundreds of civil servants in Bulawayo are demanding justice after allegedly being swindled out of their life savings in a residential stands project that has failed to materialize for over 12 years. The scandal, involving the Mahlaba Housing Scheme, highlights the growing risks faced by public sector workers seeking affordable housing in Zimbabwe. Since 2014, more than 400 government workers have been diligently paying monthly installments to Rivervalley Properties, a land developer fronted by Simelilanga Dube.

The beneficiaries were promised 300-square-metre residential stands at Lot 27A in Lower Rangemore, Bulawayo. Under the initial housing development contract, contributors were led to believe they could begin construction within months of their first payment. Instead, a decade later, not a single brick has been laid. The situation has turned tragic for some, as several contributors have retired or passed away without ever setting foot on their promised land.

The aggrieved group has filed a formal petition against Dube, alleging a calculated attempt to defraud them. A central point of contention is a claim that the developer attempted to retrospectively alter contracts.

"There is an attempt to shift the timeline to 2018," alleged one member. "They want to claim the project started when Zimbabwe suspended the multicurrency system, purely to avoid settling their obligations in United States Dollars (USD)."

In 2025, the scheme’s chairperson, Tungamirai Mavhunda, expressed public frustration, noting that while members fulfilled their financial obligations, the developer’s engagements remained "inconclusive" and riddled with "allocation confusion."

The Mahlaba Housing Scheme controversy surfaces just as the government introduces new incentives. Kudakwashe Tagwirei, chairperson of the Land Tenure Implementation Committee, recently announced discounted land purchase frameworks for civil servants to cushion them against pension erosion.

However, the Bulawayo scandal has cast a shadow of skepticism over these state-led initiatives. Many workers now fear that government-backed housing schemes may lack the necessary accountability mechanisms to protect them from politically connected developers.

The Bulawayo civil servants are now calling for a forensic audit of the Rivervalley Properties accounts and a government intervention to ensure they receive their land or full refunds at the current market value. For many, this is more than a legal battle; it is a fight for the dignity of a home after years of serving the nation.

 Residential stands in Bulawayo