ZIRUP 2013 ANNUAL SCHOOL, BEITBRIDGE
Audrey Kwangwama, Immediate Past
President of The Real Estate Institute of
Zimbabwe (REIZ)
What is land?
 It is the surface of the earth
 The source of all minerals, vegetable matter and
animals
 The foundation for social, political and economic
activities
 A commodity as well as a source of wealth (ULI 2007)
Under all is land
Attributes of land
 Each parcel of land is unique in its location and
composition
 Land is fixed
 Land is durable
 Land supply is finite – the need for efficient and
effective management
 Land is vital to people
Definition of real estate
 “Land or resources embodied in land” (Jack Harvey
1992)
 “The physical land and appurtenances affixed to the
land” ( The Appraisal Institute 1992)
 Real Property – All interests, benefits and rights
inherent in the ownership of physical real estate
Government limitations to real
estate
 Taxation
 Eminent Domain
 Police Power
 Escheat
Taxation
 The right of government to raise revenue through
assessment on valuable goods, products and rights
 Border towns – payment of rates to local authorities
Eminent Domain
 The right of government to take private property for
public use upon payment of just compensation
 Compulsory land acquisition for urban development
 Allocation of acquired land to border towns for urban
development
Police power
 The right of government under which property is
regulated to protect public safety, health, morals and
general welfare:
- Zoning ordinances
- Use restrictions
- Building codes
- Air and land traffic regulations
- Access rights
-Health regulations
Escheat
 The right of government that gives the state title
ownership of a property when its owner dies without a
will or any ascertainable heirs
Real Estate Development
 Continual reconfiguration of the built environment to
meet society’s needs ( Urban Land Institute 2007)
- Construction of roads
- Water reticulation and treatment plants
- Sewer systems
-Housing
-Office buildings
-Lifestyle centres
Real Estate Development &
Management
 Initiation and management of the creation,
maintenance and eventual re-creation of spaces in
which people live, work and play
 Real estate development – starts with idea that comes
to fruition when consumers, tenants or owner
occupants occupy the bricks and mortar put in place
by the development team
What is needed to transform a
real estate idea into reality?
 Land – availability for allocation to developers
 Labour
 Capital
 Entrepreneurship
 Effective management
 Partnerships
The role of the public sector
 Public sector always a partner in every deal
 Real estate – a highly regulated process
- property law
- public infrastructure
- financial market rules
- zoning
-building permits
-endowment fees
• All the above part of public sector realm
Real Estate Development Process
 Inception of an idea
 Refinement of an idea
 Feasibility
 Contract negotiation
 Formal Commitment
 Construction
 Completion and formal opening
 Property, asset and portfolio management
Commencement of construction
 Infrastructure:- capacity of water and sewer treatment plants
 Water and sewer reticulation - water and sewer mains
 Onsite sewage and water reticulation
 Roads
 Certificate of Compliance – Sales through Cession
 Enforcement of conditions in a development permit
 Implications for the property industry
Completion and formal opening
 Local authority approves occupancy
 Connection of utilities – Where are they?
 Sink boreholes, use generators for power, use private
collectors of garbage- total building occupation costs
become very expensive
 Tenants move in – How do they move in when there is no
water?
THE CASE OF KATIMA-MULILO, NAMIBIA
 Katima Mulilo is the regional capital of the recently
renamed Zambezi province in Namibia
 Situated on the bank of the Zambezi River on the
border with Zambia
 Is the gateway into Central Southern Africa, occupying
a unique position bordering Angola, Botswana,
Zambia and Zimbabwe
POPULATION AND ECONOMIC
ACTIVITY
 Local population estimated at 28 200 during the 2011
Population and Housing Census
 60% of population lives in informal settlements which
are currently being formalised
 Economic activity mainly retail, industrial, Gvt/Parastatal,
tourism and informal trading (dominated by food and
alcohol trading)
 Bulk of roads- gravel but well built
Municipal Status
 KMTC elected for first time in 1992
 Town proclaimed in 1995 with an area of jurisdiction
covering 2 969 ha
 Second proclamation of 2008 added another 1 280 ha
(though this is a GRN farm)
 All operations governed by provisions of the Local
Authorities Act, Chapter 23 of 1992 as amended
Planning legislation
 Town Planning and layout design governed mainly by
two pieces of legislation namely:
 The Townships and Division of Land Ordinance No. 11
of 1963 – which deals with laws relating to the
establishment of townships and controls the
development and subdivision of land
 The Town Planning Ordinance No. 18 of 1954 as
amended, which makes provision for the preparation
and carrying out of Town Planning Schemes and
provides a framework within which such schemes are
prepared
Planning Legislation cntd
 For all Local Authorities which are not planning
authorities, layout planning and township
establishment is centrally approved by Ministry of
Regional, Local Government, Housing and Rural
Development (MRLGHRD)
 Current setup is such that it takes anything up to
three years to have any layout approved, surveyed
and registered at the Deeds Office, thus creating a
bottleneck in the land delivery process
Land Use Plan
Land alienation
 All land sales or leases more than a year long have to
be approved by MRLGHRD in terms of Sections 63(2)
and 30(1)(t) of the Local Authorities Act, 23 of 1992
 This also creates bottlenecks in the land alienation
system
 Rate of land delivery far outweighed by demand
Impact of Rural Urban migration
 Scenario aggravated by fact that Katima is the only
proclaimed urban settlement in Zambezi Region,
hence rural urban migration most pronounced here
 Result is that more people live in informal
settlements than in formal areas of the town
Opportunities in Khatima-Mlilo
 Katima seen as sleeping giant just about to awaken
 Strategic location on the gateway into Central
Southern Africa
 Demand for a dry land port for goods coming into
and from the port of Walvis Bay
 Demand for trucking facilities in town
Opportunities cntd
 The Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) currently
working on a Spatial Development Initiative (SDI)
aimed at enhancing strategic linkages within a 100km
radius of the Trans Zambezi Corridor, anchored in the
town of Katima Mulilo
 Katima also seen as providing an alternative,
uncongested “waterfront” holiday resort besides
Walvis Bay, Swakopmund etc
Opportunities Cntd
 Existing and potential retail development have spheres
of influence stretching across the border into Zambia
 However the neighbouring countries also pose a
serious competitive force in the tourism market
 Katima currently a transit point to Kasane in Botswana
and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe
International Co-operation
 Town stands to benefit from the Kavango-Zambezi
Trans-Frontier Park (KAZA) jointly operated by
Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe
 Tourism they key
 Spatial development initiative – Victoria Falls,
Livingstone, Kasane and Khatima Mlilo
Summary
 Efficient land delivery system
 Infrastructure – off-site and on-site
 Partnerships – Public sector will always be a partner to
the private sector
 International Co-operation