The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has refuted recent claims circulating on social media regarding its property holdings.
According to a statement released on Sunday, August 25, NRZ categorically denies owning an extensive portfolio of properties stretching from South Africa to London.
The NRZ also clarified that it does not possess any rights or control over properties associated with the NRZ Contributory Pension Fund.
The statement further addressed rumours about the extent of land ownership along its railway lines.
The NRZ asserted that it does not own or have legal rights to a 2-kilometre-wide strip of land on either side of its railway tracks.
Instead, the accurate information, according to the NRZ, is that the parastatal’s jurisdiction is limited to a Railway Reserve Land strip measuring 45 meters on either side of the tracks. Reads the statement:
CLARIFICATION ON SOME SOCIAL MEDIA MISCONCEPTIONS REGARDING NRZ PROPERTIES
The NRZ wishes to clarify certain misconceptions which have been trending on social media recently. Firstly, the NRZ does not own any shares and has no direct or indirect link, right or benefit from the London Stock Exchange.
Furthermore, NRZ does not own any property in the UK as some X users have claimed. NRZ has often been confused with the NRZ Contributory Pension Fund, especially on matters relating to property ownership both within and outside Zimbabwe. The two are separate entities that are accountable individually.
NRZ has no rights nor control over properties owned by the Pension Fund. The relationship between the NRZ and the Pension Fund is that the NRZ is the sponsoring employer and as such, is adequately informed that the fund’s
offshore properties are well-managed and proceeds are benefiting the membership.The NRZ clarified this position in a recent presentation to the Joint sitting of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and Transport and Infrastructural Development.
Secondly, there are claims that the NRZ owns and has a legal right to 2km of land on either side of the railway line. Nothing can be further from the truth.
The correct position is that 45 metres of land on either side of the tracks is regarded as Railway Reserve Land and is legally gazetted as such. Such land is reserved for future railway expansion.
Further to that, the NRZ does not own an inch of land in Johannesburg and has no properties in, Zambia and Botswana.
Thirdly, Rhodesia Railways used to own properties in Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. The Rhodesia Railways assets were shared between successor railway entities, Zambia Railways Limited and National Railways of Zimbabwe.
The properties were being managed by a joint committee from both Zimbabwe and Zambia called the Higher Authority.
The Botswana line and properties as well as a few houses in Mafikeng, South Africa were thus disposed by the Higher Authority to the Botswana Government and sitting tenants respectively in the 1990s.
The mining rights in South Africa that were given to Rhodesia Railways by the late Cecil John Rhodes are jointly owned by NRZ, Zambia Railways and South Africa’s state mining entity called Africa Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation (AEMFC) at 33.33% shareholding apiece.
These are managed by an entity called Pan African Minerals Development Company (PAMDC). It should be noted that these are only mining rights excluding land ownership and that South African citizens have title deeds on the farms where the mining rights are sitting.
Lastly, it is correct that NRZ used to own houses in most Suburbs in cities like Bulawayo, Harare, Gweru among others.
However, it should be noted that these were disposed to sitting tenants, both before and after independence.
The last such massive employee empowerment programme through selling houses to sitting employee tenants having been done in the 1990s.
It is therefore not true that NRZ still retains ownership of all or most of the houses in these suburbs.
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