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“Everyone must pay for the services rendered. We will not mince our words any longer. From now onwards there should be no excuse for failing to deliver.”
The mayor’s stance irked other councillors including the deputy mayor Clr Amen Mpofu who boldly challenged the stance and urged the council to be lenient with ratepayers.
“Adopting a tough stance ubhulo kumbe uswazi will not work. We are representatives of people and we know their situation.
“People are failing to pay because of the economy which is performing poorly as evidenced by a number of companies that have either closed completely or are operating at way below capacity,” said Clr Mpofu.
Fierce debate ensued when Ward 25 Clr Edward Ndlovu castigated parents for failing to pay school fees on time.
“As schools open some parents will just send their children to school and are not worried about paying fees. Our schools are owed thousands of dollars because parents are not committing themselves. The $15 per term is not a lot of money, it is just a matter of attitude,” said Clr Ndlovu.
Clr Clayton Zana of Ward 19 who said council should encourage residents to pay rentals and fees on time seconded him.
Councillors took turns to argue over the issue for nearly an hour with Ward 27 Clr Siboniso Khumalo saying the proposed increases were not appropriate, as they would worsen the burden on residents.
“Residents are already struggling to pay and this will worsen the situation. I feel as council we are wrong to sanction this and it will backfire on us and most parents will not afford,” said Clr Khumalo.
Ward 18 Clr Benjamin Sigwaza Ndlovu said the problem was caused by the poor performance of the city’s industries and said the council should stop blaming residents.
Ward 17 Clr Ephraim Ncube said the council should persuade residents to pay instead of using force, as doing so would make them less popular ahead of the elections.
The councillor for Ward 21 Reuben Matengu hit back and said the increases would enable the council to provide improved service delivery.
He said councillors should be firm on the issue even if it was “politically incorrect”.
However, Ward Three Clr Martin Moyo insisted that increases were necessary for the council to operate efficiently and said residents have no excuse for not paying rentals.
Ward 20 Clr Earnest Rafomoyo challenged the city fathers to think outside the box and find alternative ways of boosting the city’s revenue inflows.
Ward 11 Clr Nduna Dladla, who chairs the council’s finance committee, joined the debate saying residents should just pay their bills and stop being crybabies.
Ward Four Clr Paul Malaba said councillors should engage in constructive arguments and stop arguing without suggesting possible solutions.
The councillor for Ward 23 Ngwalo Nyathi said the councillors who opposed the proposed increases were being dishonesty because the same councillors had approved the draft budget.
Other councillors condemned the division and urged their counterparts to speak with one voice over the issue in order to avoid confusing residents.
They said the increase was in line with the 2012 budget and urged councillors to be consistent in whatever they do.
Online Reporter