Residents in Bulawayo have expressed dismay with the Bulawayo City council (BCC) as it has emerged that women with children cannot apply for housing stands unless they do so with their spouses or produce proof that the father of the child is deceased. Effectively, this means that single mothers are illegible to apply for stands. Although the city council’s public relations department disputed this, investigations by BPRA proved this to be true. Officers handling applications for stands revealed that the policy was designed to prevent couples from acquiring more than one stand on the pretext that they have separated. This has been seen by women in the city, especially single mothers as an affront to the right of single mothers to have decent shelter, and also as a form of discrimination against single women. Residents argued that single mothers should be allowed to seek housing stands just like their married counterparts, and like everyone else.
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