Harare City Council is now owed more than ZWL$$5,8 billion by Government, business and residents, a situation which has seen the local authority failing to provide basic services and pay workers’ salaries on time. As at February 28 this year, properties in high-density suburbs owed the city ZWL$1,03 billion, while low-density suburbs carried a ZWL$1,5 billion. Industrial or commercial properties were indebted to the tune of ZWL$3,1 billion. Also, Government owes the city ZWL$191 million. For the first time in many years Council is operating with an approved budget. Council intends to collect $32 billion to fund its service delivery mandate. For the situation to work the budget must be funded by all residents and not by a few ratepayers as they cannot carry the whole city. Services will suffer as ratepayers are the ones who fund service delivery. The city’s corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme urged residents to play their part and pay their dues to Council. “At the moment there is a mismatch between service delivery expectations and the amounts being paid by service users. Council urges residents to pay their bills so that service delivery does not suffer.”
