adminsupplementary charges is welcome. We hope the money so collected will translate into improved service delivery.
Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda said the city was failing to ensure smooth service delivery to residents because of the huge debt. Residents are said to owe council US$40 million. The remainder is owed by private companies and Government departments.
But the question that remains is how council allowed such a huge debt to accumulate and why so little action has been taken to recover the sums owed. Some arrears can be expected, simply because of council inefficiency.
It is not unusual for consumers to receive accounts after the last date of payment. The terrible queues at most council offices, especially at month-end, also create arrears.
It can take several days of queuing to pay a bill. But the bulk of arrears are there simply because many consumers have found that nothing happens when they fail to pay their bills. A few years ago water supplies were cut automatically within a fortnight of no payment by due date, and accounts arrived at least two weeks and usually a month before due date.
Everyone knew that these bills had to be paid and they were. Council needs to now do more than just say “we are taking legal action as the last resort, because final statements of demand had brought nothing to the city.”
We agree that such action is long overdue and something radical has to be done.
But council should step up awareness campaigns on residents about the payment plans. Most residents are not aware that they can make arrangements on how to pay their arrears. Council needs to
talk to ratepayers and encourage them to come up with payment plans. They may not be able to pay everything they owe, but even if they pay something every month, it will go a long way in improving the cash flow situation.
Residents are demanding service delivery before paying for the services. They argue that they have huge vehicle service bills as a result of potholes on the roads.
Those in the Western suburbs and other surrounding areas wonder why they should pay for water when they never consistently have water. Garbage is collected after sometime. The list of complaints is endless. At the same time residents, private companies and Government departments also need to appreciate that they have a legal obligation to honour their bills and do so in time.
If one is not able to pay for one reason or another, one ought to discuss it with council authorities and make a payment plan. As we have often stated local authorities need to match their expenditure with revenue.
The process of preparing budgets is very clear. Councils are supposed to consult ratepayers in terms of what needs to be done and after that the councillors must pass the budget before it is forwarded to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development.
If this process is followed, it means all the critical stakeholders have been involved and there is corporate ownership of the council programmes. One of the reasons most service providers are not raising enough revenue is because there is wholesale resistance from the ratepayers who believe they are being asked to pay for non-existent services.
This is the problem also faced by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority and water departments in most councils.
Residents think that the water and electricity are too expensive and they simply stop paying.
Service providers need to motivate their clients to pay and pay on time so that there is constant improvement in service delivery.
As was rightly pointed out by Mayor Masunda that “we are standing on our own, with nothing coming from government and that is why we need the revenue to settle our debts and ensure service delivery in the city”. This should not necessarily translate to increased levies as is the case now and has been. There is therefore need to seal loopholes through which money is lost and to cut down on unnecessary expenses. It’s unfortunate that the council cannot even trace some of the people who owe them.
Meanwhile, we urge the Harare City Council to introduce a special concession as part of its drive to get all residents, companies and Government departments in arrears to pay up.
They could be given a two-month period to clear their arrears and enjoy a 30 percent discount to be credited to their accounts.
The concession would be most welcome by those in a position to clear arrears so that they would start on a clean slate.
Council should give this a thought.
Online Reporter