Council offers discounts to residents

Innocent Ruwende Senior Reporter
Harare City Council is offering a 30 percent discount to ratepayers who settle their debts in full as it entices them to pay their outstanding bills.

Government, businesses and residents now owe the local authority over $733 million.

Council hopes the incentives will rescue Harare from a financial crisis which has seen the local authority failing to pay salaries and provide basic services such as trafficable roads and waste collection.

When the city introduced a similar facility in 2016, it raked in $85 million.

Policy inconsistencies regarding debt collection continue to cost the cash-strapped local authority.

Harare is only collecting $12 million from potential monthly collections of $22 million but through Wellcash Debt Collectors, it had gone up to about $15 million.

When the city terminated the debt collectors contract under duress from residents associations collections dwindled to around $12 million.

From December 5 last year to January 15 this year Wellcash brought $4,5 million.

“Waiver on interest and debt administrative charges on once off settlement of account. Discretional offer of discounts of up to 30 percent of the outstanding balance of full settlement of accounts,” reads the notice.

“Waiver of illegal activity charges on full settlement of the outstanding debt and cessation of illegal operations. Please grab the above offer to clear your bills and enjoy the once off benefit.”

The city is also in the process of regularising a number of previous illegal properties and is using digital cadastral data in order to speed up identification and inclusion of additional properties of the General Valuation Roll.

Council has put in place various measures to enforce payment by residents.