The Harare City Council (HCC) says it is owed a staggering $1.5 trillion by ratepayers which has compromised its ability to provide essential services like water, garbage collection and sanitation.
The local authority’s inability to collect revenue has been attributed to a dysfunctional revenue collection system.
As a result, the Council is struggling to maintain infrastructure, pay workers and invest in critical services.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Harare Town Clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango said:
While focusing on service delivery, there is concern about the box of revenues.
All ratepayers owed the city $783.2 billion and the figure has increased to $1.5 trillion as of February 29, 2024.
While the Zimbabwe dollar figure is increasing, the value of the debt continues to go down due to the movement of the exchange rate.
The December 2023 debt had a value of US$132.95 million, while in February it had reduced to US$101.28 million.
Meanwhile, Harare residents say the Council’s billing is fictitious since it is based on estimates and non-existent services.
Tinashe Mangachena, a resident of Budiriro high-density suburb, said that the council had failed to provide basic services. He said:
The way they charge the monthly bill isn’t even normal. For example, the city doesn’t even supply us with water, but their bills have massive charges for water provision.
Sometimes their bills are based on very unreasonable estimates, and as a resident, I will not pay until they deliver proper services.
Most local authorities in Zimbabwe are failing to provide essential services to ratepayers and this is not only due to their failure to collect revenue primarily in the form of rates, fees, and charges from residents and businesses.
Top officials within local authorities have been implicated in the embezzlement of funds, and there is also political interference in revenue collection processes and misuse or misappropriation of funds.
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