The Bulawayo City Council, or BCC for short, is bringing back an old rule from 17 years ago. This rule says that if someone has been renting a shop from the council for more than 10 years, the council can take the shop back. The council wants to do this instead of making a new rule.
The reason for this old rule was to make sure that everyone had a fair chance to use the shops that the council owns. But when the council first tried to do this back in 2007, a lot of business owners didn't like it. So the council put the rule on hold. They tried again in 2017, but the same thing happened.
Recently, the council started talking about this rule again. They had a meeting where they talked about putting a limit on how long someone can rent a shop. But then they remembered that they already had a rule about this from 2007.
The person in charge of the meeting, Councillor Ntandoyenkosi Ndlovu, wanted to know how the council would make people leave the shops if they had to. Mr Thabani Ncube, who works for the council, said they would look at each case separately. He knew that it might not be fair to make people leave right away, especially if they had been renting the shop for a long time.
In the end, the council decided to go ahead with the old rule from 2007. They're going to start using it again.
While all of this is happening, the council is also letting people bid on renting different kinds of places in Bulawayo. There are small shops, kiosks, places for businesses and factories, gas stations, social clubs, and even a spot for a primary school.
The council is doing this to help people in Bulawayo start businesses and help the city's economy grow. At the same time, they want to make sure that everyone has a fair chance to rent the places that the council owns.
The reason for this old rule was to make sure that everyone had a fair chance to use the shops that the council owns. But when the council first tried to do this back in 2007, a lot of business owners didn't like it. So the council put the rule on hold. They tried again in 2017, but the same thing happened.
Recently, the council started talking about this rule again. They had a meeting where they talked about putting a limit on how long someone can rent a shop. But then they remembered that they already had a rule about this from 2007.
The person in charge of the meeting, Councillor Ntandoyenkosi Ndlovu, wanted to know how the council would make people leave the shops if they had to. Mr Thabani Ncube, who works for the council, said they would look at each case separately. He knew that it might not be fair to make people leave right away, especially if they had been renting the shop for a long time.
In the end, the council decided to go ahead with the old rule from 2007. They're going to start using it again.
While all of this is happening, the council is also letting people bid on renting different kinds of places in Bulawayo. There are small shops, kiosks, places for businesses and factories, gas stations, social clubs, and even a spot for a primary school.
The council is doing this to help people in Bulawayo start businesses and help the city's economy grow. At the same time, they want to make sure that everyone has a fair chance to rent the places that the council owns.
