Intergenerational struggles over urban housing: the impact on livelihoods of the elderly in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Legislative and economic changes in Zimbabwe have caused a confrontation between the younger and older generations over resources, with bad consequences for both. This article is based on research into the experiences of families living in both rural and urban areas. Since women normally outlive their husbands, struggles over property are common when husbands die. For elderly women, ownership of urban housing does not necessarily lead to control. Hence, owning property does not in itself ensure they can ensure economic security from it.

Keywords:

• elderly
• Zimbabwe
• urban
• housing
• inheritance
• livelihood
• tenure

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge support from Winrock international's AWLAE programme and the Zimbabwe Widows' and Orphans' Trust. An extended version of this article was presented at the Nordiska Institute's Conference on Ageing in the African City in Zomba, Malawi in December 2007.

Notes

1. The last official population census was held in Zimbabwe in 2002. Because of the political stalemate and allegations of election fraud, high HIV/death rate and immigration rates, it has not been possible since for any institution to conduct a more accurate and/or up to date demographic analysis.

2. The Land Tenure Act of 1969 made it illegal for non-Europeans to own land in ‘whites only’ areas, which included all urban, mining and commercial farming areas (Kamete 1999, cited in Schlyter 2003). Africans who were employed in the European-only areas were provided with temporary accommodation in urban areas. Migrants to urban areas were mostly able-bodied men, who worked in manufacturing and as domestic workers. Most women remained in rural areas to farm, raise children, and take care of the retired, disabled and ill men. The rural subsistence economy bore all the cost of caring for children, the elderly, and the sick (Potts 2000). Though spatially separated, the rural and urban areas, and their economies, were closely linked. Migrants sent remittances to the rural areas. In addition, the agricultural livelihoods that Africans pursued to supplement the meagre urban wages increased demand for agricultural labour and led to high birth rates. Children were socialised to look after their parents in their old age (Folta and Deck 1987, 323; Rwezaura et al. 1995).

3. Rent-to-buy was the process through which tenants were given an opportunity to purchase the housing units they rented. The monthly payment was equivalent to what the rent would have been if the house had been rented. It was expected to take 25–30 years to complete the purchase (Schlyter 2003).

4. In May 2005, the Zimbabwe government implemented Operation Restore Order. The UN estimates that some 700,000 people were directly affected. Operation Restore Order is discussed and analysed in more detail in Tibaijuka (2005) and Bratton and Masunungure (2006).

5. The Zimbabwe Widows Association was formed in 1996, and later became the Zimbabwe Widows and Orphans Trust (ZWOT). ZWOT was established to assist grief- and poverty-stricken widows and orphans. ZWOT has in excess of 25,000 members and new members continue to join daily. These members live in all provinces of Zimbabwe. This organisation is unique in Zimbabwe, because it attempts to address the wide-ranging problems encountered by this marginalised constituency. The organisation assists with the legal, financial, medical, and material concerns of its members. Additionally, it also provides an important network of psychosocial supports for its members (Paradza 2007).

6. Though ZWOT assists widows to gain access to the courts, the organisation has no resources to pay for the expenses of obtaining the documentation that the widows need to prove their relationship to the deceased, affidavits if the marriage was not registered. As part of the registration of the Deceased Estates, survivors have to place an advertisement in the newspapers. The widows also have to travel between various offices which include the Registrar of births and deaths, the Municipality and/or the surveyor General, all of which cost money and time. The widows also have to balance this with their other responsibilities like farming in the rural areas and/or looking after grandchildren

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Notes on contributors

Gaynor Gamuchirai Paradza

Gaynor Gamuchirai Paradza is a researcher on gender, HIV/AIDS, land tenure, urban governance and livelihood vulnerability. She is currently a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Policy Studies, Braamfontein, Johannesburg and a PhD Student with Wageningen University's Law and Governance Chair