This is what remains of what was a settled village in Mushandike area near Bhuka Business Center, about 20 kilometers out of Masvingo along the Beitbridge Highway, following the government’s decision to evict villagers in January and February this year.

The villagers were accused of settling on state land.

The government had rolled out “Operation No to Land Barons and Illegal Settlements”, which it claimed was meant to combat illegal settlements. The operation was then halted after an outcry from residents, and some ruling ZANU PF party supporters who were also caught in the evictions, but the damage had already been done to those first evicted, as depicted in the pictures. It remains to be seen if some evicted from land they had settled for twenty years will not return.

The mass evictions drew similarities with the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina where over 700 000 people were evicted from their dwellings.