Sikhulekelani Moyo [email protected]
BULAWAYO’S business community has backed calls for increased investment to address the city’s deteriorating infrastructure but raised concerns over the affordability of proposed tariff increases and council’s revenue collection capacity.
The business community gave mixed reactions to Bulawayo City Council’s proposed US$457,88 million budget for 2027, with business leaders acknowledging the need to rehabilitate roads, water and sewer systems while questioning whether businesses and residents can sustain the proposed increases.
Bulawayo businessman and former Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Matabeleland chamber vice-president Mr Louis Herbst said the budget should be viewed from a long-term development perspective, while recognising legitimate concerns about affordability and the impact of higher municipal charges on households and businesses.
“I am equally committed to fairness and accountability. However, we must also confront the reality of the infrastructure challenges facing our city and the cost of addressing them properly,” he said.
Mr Herbst said Bulawayo could not modernise its roads, rehabilitate water and sewer systems, improve public infrastructure and position itself as a smart, competitive city without substantial investment.
He said years of infrastructure deterioration could not be reversed through limited spending and temporary repairs alone.
“We must move beyond a mindset of blaming council for every pothole while resisting the financial commitment required to repair it properly. There is a fundamental difference between maintaining a road and rebuilding one that has reached the end of its useful life.
“Repeatedly patching a failed road can become more expensive over time than undertaking a properly engineered reconstruction,” said Mr Herbst.
He said the city’s capital programme, which covers roads and stormwater drainage, water and sewer infrastructure, electricity, health facilities and other public assets, was essential to supporting economic activity, public health and investment.
However, Mr Herbst warned that the proposed budget projected a recurrent funding shortfall of US$139,73 million and relied heavily on borrowing and Public Sector Investment Programme funding to finance its capital programme.
He said council needed to clearly explain its financing assumptions, distinguishing between confirmed funding and anticipated receipts.
“Council must also demonstrate that proposed tariff increases are justified, that vulnerable households and struggling businesses are considered and that every dollar spent produces measurable improvements.
Residents deserve transparent procurement, clear project priorities, realistic completion dates and regular progress reports,” he said.
Mr Herbst said Bulawayo’s ambition of becoming a smart, sustainable and competitive city by 2030 would require investment in infrastructure that could support future generations.
“Better roads reduce transport costs. Reliable water supplies support households and industry. Effective sewerage protects public health.
“We cannot keep patching a city that needs rebuilding. Bulawayo’s future depends on our willingness to invest wisely today, so that the next generation inherits infrastructure that works, lasts and supports economic growth,” he said.
Bulawayo Business Forum chairperson Mr Heresy Herry said businesses appreciated the council’s restraint after several years of budgets without significant increases.
He said the proposed budget also reflected the need to align service delivery with the National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) and minimum service delivery standards.
Mr Herry said businesses understood the need to address infrastructure challenges, including non-revenue water, which he said had reached as high as 50 percent.
“I think as businesses we are very much in lockstep with council in terms of the aspirations and also the objectives that they are trying to achieve,” he said.
However, Mr Herry warned that a once-off increase of between 74 and 75 percent would be difficult for businesses to absorb.
He proposed phasing in the increases over two or three years to allow businesses to adjust their operating models and build resilience.
“So maybe we want to study it over time to just allow businesses to also absorb the costs and also build them into the model. Why don’t we look at an incremental increase over two or three years, to allow us to also acclimatise and build enough resilience to withstand it,” he said.
Mr Herry said deteriorating infrastructure was already affecting business growth, particularly logistics, as poor roads increased the time taken to transport raw materials and finished products.
He said businesses would support higher charges if council demonstrated that the additional revenue was being used for its intended purposes.
“We welcome any increment on condition that there will be visible evidence that the funds are being deployed for intended purposes and then there’s also a need for disclosures.
“I think constant check-ins with the business community, with the residents, progress updates to say, look, this is what we’ve done with the money,” he said.
Mr Herry also called for a social contract between council, residents and businesses, arguing that local companies should be prioritised when municipal projects were awarded.
He further urged council to explore ways of generating revenue from underutilised recreational facilities through private-sector partnerships.
“We’ve got a lot of recreational assets that are currently lying idle, that are not optimised. So maybe it’s about time that they expedite the privatisation or optimise some of those assets. That way it ceases to be a burden for council, it actually becomes a revenue inflow opportunity for them, given that businesses will also be paying a royalty to council,” he said.
ZNCC executive member for Matabeleland region Mr Jamaine Chapfiwa said businesses supported increased capital investment but questioned the proposed funding model.
He said the city could not continue operating with stagnant budgets while its infrastructure deteriorated.
Mr Chapfiwa said council’s own assessments indicated that about three-quarters of the city’s roads had exceeded their economic lifespan, with an estimated US$700 million needed for rehabilitation.
He said businesses had also endured years of water rationing, making investment in water, sewer and road infrastructure necessary.
“So, when council proposes to go from US$220 million this year to US$457,88 million next year, and puts US$130 million of that into capital, with water, sewer and roads taking the biggest share, my first reaction is that this is the right argument to be having. Reliable water and usable roads are what business has been asking for,” he said.
However, Mr Chapfiwa questioned the proposed recurrent expenditure of US$327,8 million, including a wage bill of US$117 million, as well as reliance on an average 74 percent increase in rates.
He also raised concerns over council’s revenue collection performance, saying its figures showed that it had collected 73 percent of amounts billed by November last year, against a target of 80 percent.
Mr Chapfiwa called on council to publish the commercial and industrial tariff schedule so that businesses could assess the actual proposed charges rather than rely on household examples.
He also urged council to set clear revenue collection targets and report on performance monthly, while ring-fencing roads and street lighting levies and publishing quarterly expenditure reports.
“Bulawayo’s revenue will grow when the factories reopen, not when the businesses still here are charged more to stay open. Build the budget around that and business will back it,” said Mr Chapfiwa.
