Chronicle Editor
Andile Tshuma, Sunday News Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is owed ZW$15 billion by ratepayers with those living in the low-density areas said to be major defaulters compared to their counterparts in the high-density suburbs and in a bid to redress the situation the local authority is mulling moves to approach the courts.
The defaulters include Government departments, industry and domestic account holders. Domestic account holders make up the bulk of the defaulters but the council intimated that the elderly were among their best ratepayers.
Speaking to Sunday News, BCC acting Finance Manager (Revenue), in the Financial Services Department Mr Euther Siziba, said council was failing to render some of its critical services to the residents due to low revenue inflows. He said for domestic accounts, residents in the low-density suburbs were lagging behind in paying rentals compared to those in high density areas.
“We have challenges with domestic accounts, industry and commerce, as well as the Government. We reported in our last report that our debtors owe us a total of $15 billion in unpaid rates,” said Mr Siziba.
He said the money owed to council could help fix roads, ensure that there was medication at council clinics and improve on the sewer reticulation system among other areas.
“That $15 billion could help improve the clearance of blocked sewers and water leaks that we see in town. It could help in improving our road network, part of the money could be channelled to the city’s health services department so that people can find medication at our council clinics. As it is, we have an ongoing outbreak of
and we have waived clinic fees so that everyone can access free healthcare, this is possible when people are regularly servicing their accounts,” he said.
Mr Siziba said some debtors paid rates late, a development that further crippled council operations.
“Delays in making payments for services affects the level of service delivery in the city, that’s why people complain about the type of service that they get. We are in it together. We are contributing to that level because we are delaying making payments, by the time we make payments, the value of the currency will be much lower than it was at the time that rate payer was supposed to pay. So, we would really like to implore and encourage residents and stakeholders of the city to make their payments as soon as they get their bills, to assist council to provide a better and quality service to the residents,” he said.
Meanwhile, director of financial services Mr Kimpton Ndimande said the council had employed a raft of measures to try and recover the debt and said lawsuits and engagements were underway with stakeholders, while council had an arrangement to exchange cheques with Government.
Mr Ndimande, confirmed that the local authority was facing financial challenges and was also incapacitated when it came to borrowing funds for big projects.
“As a city we do not enjoy the process of taking stringent measures to recover debt but revenue collection is necessary if the city is to continue offering the services that residents must be getting. We encourage residents to service their accounts regularly and to approach our offices if they have challenges. All the billions that are owed to this city are a reflection of the many services that the city has failed to deliver because no money is coming in,” he said.
Mr Ndimande said the elderly were the best ratepayers saying although they faced challenges with payments he said the elderly were always concerned about their accounts and frequently sought help from various council banking halls and welfare offices to keep their domestic accounts in good standing.
The young and middle-aged ratepayers, he said, were often indifferent about payment of rates.
The city sues about 400 defaulters per month who end up having their properties auctioned to recover debts.
In a bid to boost revenue collection and reduce consumer debt, council recently resolved to expand its Credit Control Unit to include a Debt Collection Unit in a bid to boost revenue collection and reduce consumer debt.
Bongani Ndlovu