R3.8bn facelift: Zimbabwe plants trees, rounds up students ahead of taking control of SADC in Harare

A man walks on a main road in Harare in August 2023. Zimbabwe is hosting the 44th ordinary SADC summit in Harare next month. (JOHN WESSELS / AFP)

• Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa is due to take up the rotational annual chairpersonship of SADC at a meeting in Harare next month.
• Preparations have included villas for delegates, planting trees, and rounding up potential troublemakers.
• The Zimbabwean government has spent more than R3.8 billion giving Harare a facelift in preparation for the two-day event.

With new roads, villas for delegates, luxury coaches, new trees, and above all a call for a demonstration-free week, Zimbabwe is pulling out all stops to host the 44th ordinary SADC summit of heads of state and government in mid-August.

Judging by the scale of the preparations, the government is counting on the event as a major image-building opportunity.

The summit is due to see President Emmerson Mnangagwa take over the leadership of the regional bloc from Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema. 

The SADC chairpersonship is annual on a rotational basis, and for the military-backed regime in Harare, it is a big deal.

“I commend the government and people of our country who are accelerating preparations and works related to the event,” Mnangagwa said on Tuesday at the burial of a national hero, retired Brigadier Michael Chaminuka.

Zimbabwe last held the chair in 2014 under the late Robert Mugabe when the summit was held in the resort town of Victoria Falls.

Suppression of freedom

The summit slated for 17 and 18 August will be a week shy of Zimbabwe marking a year after the disputed general election SADC flagged as flawed.

For the greater part of the year, the opposition has been weakened by internal fights, and the government has cracked down on dissent.

There are at least 80 opposition activists in prison, facing charges of plotting to incite violence.

Some of them stand accused of planning to demonstrate during the SADC summit.

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On Wednesday, 44 Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) activists were rounded up by the police in Belvedere, Harare.

The police said violence erupted among the activists leading to their arrest. However, Zinasu said the police raided their meeting.

They have since appeared in court.

Amnesty International called on the authorities to “respect the freedom of assembly and association”.

According to the latest report from the Zimbabwe Peace Project, between January and June, there were 3 137 victims of political violence in the country.

Zanu-PF instigated more than 65% of the violence, the Zimbabwe Republic Police 9.73%, another 9% came from traditional leaders and the rest by numerous groups aligned to the ruling party.

Sprucing up

More than R3.8 billion has been spent to give Harare and its satellite town, Mount Hampden, a facelift.

Critics accuse the government of having misplaced priorities by spending so much money for a two-day event while hospitals go without medicines, among others lacking public services. 

ZimDaily, which specialises in telling stories through cartoons, shows how ordinary people will suffer while the ruling elite live it up with their SADC guests.

The government funded a project to replace old streetlights, and major roads in the capital city have undergone resurfacing.

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Ahead of the SADC summit, informal vendors said they were being harassed to clear streets and give the city a clean image.

Property owners along Airport Road, which leads to the city, were given until 31 July to improve the outlook of their properties.

The main venue of the summit will be the Chinese-built and funded parliament building in Mount Hampden. In the same area, the government built 18 villas in three months. 

The plush houses were constructed by a Swiss firm, Mabetex Group, and will be used by high-profile delegates such as heads of state.

The government said it had also bought two luxury buses that would ferry delegates to the venue. These buses were fitted with heated and massage sofas, wifi, a television set per seat, a kitchen and toilets.The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.