Online Reporter
SERVICE delivery in almost all local authorities countrywide is pathetic.
Roads are barely navigable. Reliable tap water supplies are a luxury. Refuse is rarely collected. Like springs in forests, sewage forms permanent streams on the sides of the pothole-ridden inner-suburb roads, flowing into homes in some cases.
Nightfall really means nightfall in cities countrywide, as street and tower lights no longer function. Traffic lights seldom work, so urban driving is now impossible.
Despite this general decay in service delivery, council employee perks, especially at the senior level, remain some of the most irresistible in the country.
To correct the foregoing, the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works has just spelt out minimum service delivery standards that councils must meet and measures that it can take to enforce compliance.
The minimum standards as contained in Statutory Instrument (SI) 69 of 2026, which are cited as Minimum Service Delivery Standards Indicators for Local Authorities (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (No. 1), exhort councils to deliver, and for those that fail to do so, outline disciplinary action that includes suspension, dismissal and demotion of officials.
“Local authorities should prioritise the delivery of essential services to residents over the payment of salaries and other operational costs,” our sister paper, The Sunday Mail, cited the SI as saying yesterday.
“The recommended ratio for expenditure on service delivery versus expenditure on remuneration will be 70:30. Every local authority will have an approved programme-based budget that is International Public Sector Accounting Standards-compliant. Budget heads related to all services are clearly separated, and cost allocation standards for common costs should be in place.
“The accrual-based double-entry accounting system is practised. Accounting standards comparable to commercial accounting standards with clear guidelines for recognition of income and expenditure, are followed. Accounting and budgeting manuals are in place and are adhered to.”
In addition, the SI directs councils to ensure there is efficiency in human resources management, with qualified staff, performance appraisals and skills audits, as well as measures to ensure gender mainstreaming.
Residents have suffered for far too long due to poor service delivery. We remember that up to 16 people lost their lives out of more than 1 800 diarrhoeal infections that occurred in Bulawayo in 2024 due to poor water and sanitation systems in the city.
Harare and Chitungwiza have had similar outbreaks and similarly sorry impacts as well due to collapsed water and sewer infrastructure.
These and other cases elevate poor service delivery at the council level to a matter of life and death, not administrative inadequacies that can be ignored.
We now have the regulatory framework in place. Great. From here, we want to see councils doing the needful and the Government ensuring compliance, cracking the whip when necessary.
