Eighty families at Badminton Farm in Nyamandlovu were on Tuesday left stranded after the Sheriff of the High Court razed down their homes in the latest wrangle over the ownership of the land.
According to the villagers, the demolitions started in 2016 when Badminton Block Company, represented by Luke Siziba, obtained a default judgment at the High Court in Bulawayo, ordering the now more than 400 families to vacate the land.
The families were allocated the land in 2011 by Chief Deli Mabhena who claimed the land was under his jurisdiction.
The Badminton Block Company, through its lawyers, argued that the area is private land and challenged the legality of Chief Deli as an authority to allocate land.
The villagers contend that the A1 farm was gazetted in 2001and is therefore government property.
Lawyers from Mutatu, Masamvu and Da-Silva Gustavo Law Chamber, who are representing the villagers said they would challenge the latest demolitions, which were carried out without the requisite seven days’ notice period.
