Online Reporter
Vusumuzi Dube, Deputy Radar Editor
BULAWAYO residents have been urged to settle their municipal bills to enable the Bulawayo City Council to improve service delivery, amid growing concern over the city’s ballooning debtors’ book.
Ward 26 Councillor, Mpumelelo Moyo, who is also the Chairperson of the Finance and Development Committee for the City of Bulawayo, said the rising debt burden is threatening the city’s financial health and undermining its capacity to provide essential services.
In a press statement, Clr Moyo revealed that the city’s debtors increased from ZWG 2 477 247 004 on February 28, 2026 to ZWG 2 523 446 193 as at March 31, 2026.
“Debtors increased from ZWG 2 477 247 004 on 28 February 2026 to ZWG 2 523 446 193 as at 31 March 2026. Domestic debtors make up 70 percent of the total debtors. Government debtors stand at ZWG 165 338 755, industrial and commercial debtors stand at ZWG 571 647 544 and domestic debtors stand at ZWG 1 786 459 893, making a total of ZWG 2 523 446 193 as at 31 March 2026. The city has 138 996 installed meters,” said Clr Moyo.
He said revenue collection is central to the city’s operations, noting that council depends on residents’ payments to maintain services such as water supply, refuse collection, sewer management and road maintenance.
“Cash flows are the lifeblood for every institution and as a city we are dependent on our revenue collection to provide adequate service delivery. We provide solid waste management to our residents that costs the city money. We provide clean running water, though on weekly shed days, and this comes with costs for chemicals, water purchased from Zinwa and repairs of burst pipes,” he said.
Clr Moyo said the city is also grappling with deteriorating road infrastructure, which requires significant financial resources to rehabilitate.
“We also have a duty as a city to repair our roads which are in a bad state and have been worsened by the good rains we got in the past rainy season and those roads need millions of dollars to be fixed,” he said.
He appealed to residents to work with council by paying their bills, saying improved service delivery can only be achieved when residents honour their obligations.
“This is therefore a clarion call to the residents to pay off their debts to the City Council. We are appealing to our residents to work with the city hand in glove. Adequate service delivery is required by the residents and in turn the city requires revenue from the residents to offer adequate service delivery. It’s a carrot and stick affair,” said Clr Moyo.
He warned that with over ZWG 2 billion owed to the city, council is struggling to respond quickly to service delivery challenges such as water pipe bursts and sewer blockages.
“With over ZWG 2 billion owed to the City of Bulawayo by its residents it becomes a challenge for the city to address in time some of the challenges including clean water pipe bursts and sewer chokes and other related service delivery issues that the city is mandated to provide,” he said.
Clr Moyo said the Finance and Development Committee is calling on residents to either pay their bills in full or engage council to arrange payment plans.
“As the Chairperson of the Finance and Development Committee for the City of Bulawayo, together with my committee we urge the residents to pay their bills. That will surely equip us as a city with the much-needed financial resources that will enable us to give them adequate service delivery,” he said.
He acknowledged that some residents may be facing financial difficulties, but urged them to approach the council to make payment arrangements.
“I therefore urge residents to come and make payment plans with the City of Bulawayo so that they can extinguish this ballooning debtors’ book. I am however cognisant of the challenges that some residents are facing and hence the plea for them to come up and make payment plans,” said Clr Moyo.
At the same time, he criticised residents who prioritise subscription services over municipal payments.
“We need a serious culture change and prioritise prompt payments of bills as residents, bearing in mind we are the ones who fund service delivery. I have seen some residents making regular payments for services such as DSTV, Starlink and Netflix. The same residents are sometimes in arrears with the City of Bulawayo,” he said.
Clr Moyo warned that failure to pay municipal bills risks the collapse of ageing infrastructure.
“We are faced with ageing infrastructure as a city and we need strong financing to keep up with the infrastructure, otherwise we run the risk of collapsed infrastructure in the future, hence this plea to residents to pay up their bills,” he said.
He also encouraged residents to use the city’s online payment platforms to settle their accounts conveniently.
“As the city we have also come up with online payments for our residents to enable them to pay in the comfort of their homes. May we kindly make use of those payment platforms as well in this drive to reduce our ballooning debtors,” he said.
