City of Harare to continue discounts for elderly citizens

Online Reporter

Harare City Council will continue to discount monthly rates by up to 50 percent for ratepayers over 65-years-old.

In a notice on Wednesday, the local authority’s human resources and general purposes committee chairperson, Councillor Kudzai Kadzombe, said senior citizens should register with council to enjoy the discounts.

“Council has a senior citizen discount policy for all those over 65 years. I thought it necessary to share the information so that residents who are not yet benefitting can register for the discount,” said Cllr Kadzombe.

Eligible residents must own property in the capital.

The initiative is meant to encourage ratepayers to pay their debts.

In his state of the city address recently, Harare Mayor Councillor Jacob Mafume said the city was collecting less than half its standard revenue.

“Our collection efficiency remains less than 50 percent of our potential,” he said.

“The $15 billion collected as at June 2022 is inclusive of the legacy debt brought forward to 2022.

“We started the year with a legacy debt of $16,8 billion, which has since been eroded by inflation as it was not hedged against the US dollar.”