Online Reporter
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, [email protected]
BULAWAYO Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Judith Ncube, has directed the local authority and the special budget committee to resolve the 2025 budget impasse within seven days to allow progress amid concerns the delay is now threatening basic service delivery.
The minister gave the ultimatum during a high-level meeting last Friday, which was also attended by members of the Joint Operations Command (JOC).
Bulawayo is the only local authority that has not had its budget approved after ratepayers raised a red flag to its 2025 budget.
The ratepayers questioned the city’s figures, which they said were as a result of wrong calculations, which stemmed from the council using an incorrect formula to index the 2022 and 2023 tariffs to the US dollar.
Acting Bulawayo permanent secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Mr Simon Sawunyama, said Minister Ncube was greatly disturbed by the continued impasse on the budget matter, which is now affecting service delivery.
“An instruction was given to the city to make sure a budget was presented to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works for approval within seven days,” he told Chronicle.
“Members of JOC, who were present in the meeting were equally clear that a final position was needed. Minister Ncube wondered and she still is, how the city is operating without a budget,” said Mr Sawunyama.
Following a directive late last year from the Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) Dr Martin Rushwaya that the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works must not approve council’s US$309 million 2025 budget after noting glaring anomalies in the crafting of the budget, the ministry set up a special budget committee, which comprised of council representatives, members of the business community as represented by the two bodies, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (Matabeleland Chapter) and the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, all the three registered residents associations, tertiary institutions as well as tourism players.
The committee was tasked with revising the 2025 budget and basing it on the 2017 audited figures.
However, there were sharp differences between council and the stakeholders after a request for council to avail its salary bill was met with stiff resistance from its representatives in the special budget committee.
The impasse led to the two parties eventually going separate ways with council calling for a special council meeting, which resolved to cut business shop licences, sports and social clubs tariffs by 30 percent.
The special council meeting further resolved to resubmit the now revised budget for approval, which has now been turned down.
The city council has, however, cited clauses in the Cyber and Data Protection Act as the reason for the non-disclosure of salary perks for senior management to the special budget committee.
The business community contends that the resolution to reduce the fees reached at the special council meeting on the 2025 budget and tariffs reduction was made without councillors being given full information on objections put forward by stakeholders.
An example is the 104 percent increase in labour costs for council staff from US$53 million in 2017 to US$108, as proposed in the council’s 2025 budget.
Following the impasse, BCC called for a special council meeting where it unilaterally resolved to cut business shop licences, sports, and social club tariffs by 30 percent before resubmitting the revised budget. Despite these adjustments, the budget was once again rejected.
Responding to emailed questions on why they were reluctant to release the figures, council spokesperson, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, said council provided the business community with information containing the overall salaries and allowances in the form of trial balances and Audited Financial Statements, which should have enabled an informed analysis of council’s cost build-up.
“It should be noted that in terms of the Cyber and Data Protection Act (Chapter 12:07) section 11, subsection 1 states that: “No data controller shall process sensitive data unless the data subject has given consent in writing for such processing,” said Mrs Mpofu.
“Staff salaries and perks are classified as sensitive data, which require the employee’s consent in writing unless there is a legal requirement or court ruling to share.”
The budget impasse has seen the City of Bulawayo being the only local authority out of 92 in the country to clock the third month without a budget, presenting a service delivery headache to the second capital of the country.
“The delay in approval of the budget is affecting council’s ability to implement capital projects critical for service delivery.
“Payment for contracts that were initiated last year has been delayed, the good rains have resulted in some roads needing rehabilitation and resurfacing while the rains have also weakened the soils resulting in an unprecedented upsurge in water and sewer pipe bursts backlog, which council was struggling to attend to as a result,” said Mrs Mpofu.
