Death knell for departmental shops

Nqobile Bhebhe, [email protected] 

THE demand for partitioned lettable shops in the Central Business District (CBD) of Bulawayo continues to soar, with applications flooding Bulawayo City Council at an incredible rate. 

One applicant even submitted a request for a staggering 280 units in a single building, a clear indication of the waning relevance of traditional departmental stores in the area.

Meikles Departmental Store, Woolworths and Haddon and Sly, once big names in the city, have succumbed to this trend and been converted into partitioned shops. 

In the last three months, the local authority has received a combined total of 552 applications for lettable units — an impressive feat, given that they recently reported an 800 percent increase in monthly rates and annual licensing collections from these establishments.

Such is the popularity of these lettable units that a single application proposed setting up 280 shops. 

However, according to the latest council report on the Town Lands and Planning Committee, as of November 11, no such shops had been established at the site mentioned in the application. Instead, the property was being used for residential purposes.

“The Town Clerk reported (15th November 2024) that an application dated 19th July 2024 to establish 280 lettable unit shops had been received from Anderson Chitewe. The application had been advertised and adjacent property owners were notified.

“No objections had been received. It had also been circulated to municipal departments and no adverse comments had been received. As per the site visit of the 11th November, 2024 the 280 lettable unit shops had not been established. The property was being used for residential purposes,” reads part of the report.

However, during discussions, Councillor Mxolisi Mahlangu felt that all lettable unit shops’ applications be deferred pending a site visit on each application.

 He said the recently reviewed policy indicated that each application should be looked into individually.

“In his view, the reports submitted on lettable unit shops did not have adequate information. Some of these lettable unit shops had started operating and the recommendations did not include the regularisation fees,” reads part of the report.

Cllr Ashton Mhlanga concurred saying regularisation fees should be charged once operations had begun, without Council authority.

“Each application should be considered on its merits. This had been spelt out in the revised lettable unit shops policy. He urged councillors to read their reports.”

Cllr Adrian Moyo said it was the role of councillors to perform the oversight role.

“This could only be performed through site visits. Site visits were very important in establishing the facts on the ground. He supported that lettable unit shops applications be deferred pending site visits.”

Council’s director of town planning, Mr Wisdom Siziba, said a development permit was granted to the property for the development to start.

“The development was guided by council departments who issued conditions on the development permit. The lettable unit shops submitted for consideration had been submitted before the policy had been reviewed.

“Only new applications made after November 2024 would be affected by the new lettable unit shops’ reviewed policy conditions.”

Most buildings in the CBD of cities and towns have been converted into small cubicles, which are leased to interested occupants.

The model buttresses the growing trend of shopping malls whose sizes differ depending on the location.

The development is also creating good business for the construction sector and its supply chain through renovations and provision of building materials.

On the other hand, the CBD office space has been facing challenges with voids increasing as businesses migrate to suburban offices or office parks that are cosier.

Early this year, giant retail clothing firm, Edgars Stores Limited, closed one of its prominent branches in Bulawayo, popularly known as Sales House, citing the need to secure an alternative location that suits its brand expectations amid pressure from illegal forex dealers and vendors.

After undergoing renovations, the building has been partitioned into 51 outlets of various sizes.

The council report indicates that most applicants were granted permits attracting various monthly levies and some were charged a once-off regularisation fee of US$1 000.