Court addresses land reform programme

Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court has ruled that the reference to the right to shelter in the Constitution is ‘essentially hortatory in nature’, and simply serves as a guide to the government in formulating policy. The case was brought by the Zimbabwe Homeless Peoples Federation and the Tawango Savings Scheme. New Zimbabwe reports that they were representing hundreds of people who occupied Haydon Farm, outside Harare, during the chaotic land reform programme in 2000. The occupiers built homes which were subsequently demolished under Operation Murambatsvina, an initiative to 'clear slums'. The land was then 'acquired' by the state and sold to property developer Leengate which now wants the tenants removed from the land to allow for a new residential development. According to the Supreme Court, the reference to 'adequate shelter' falls under a section that spells out national objectives to guide the state. These objectives were important for interpreting the Constitution and other laws, ‘but they are not justiciable’. The court said it does not create rights, but rather ‘interprets the various provisions of the Constitution to ascertain the existence, nature, and extent of those rights’.