Online Reporter
Sikhulekelani Moyo [email protected]
SMALL to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operating from National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) facilities at Basch Street and 13th Avenue in Bulawayo say inconsistent billing and recent premises closures have paralysed their businesses and call on NRZ to address their grievances.
The SMEs say NRZ has asked tenants to put in writing how much they think they owe, but most traders say they have proof of payments and will not accept the amounts the rail operator claims.
Mining equipment supplier Mr Junior Jamela said he has receipts for all payments since COVID-19, yet NRZ statements do not match.
“In one day, if you get into three offices, you get three different figures, which to me is very unfair,” said Mr Jamela.
“Now NRZ has recently asked SMEs working from this facility to put in writing how much we think we owe the organisation. Which accounts department works in such a way?”
He said he does not owe NRZ, citing alleged outstanding renovation money dating back to 2011 and the COVID-19 period when they stopped operating.
“I am not an accountant, but I understand some basics… I have all the proof that I paid all the bills,” he said.
Another SME, Mr Martin Nyathi, said his bill statement jumped after making payments.
“I received a statement that claims I owe NRZ about US$2 400, but I don’t agree with that. At first, I received a statement that said I owed about US$788.
“I then started paying my dues; I first paid US$230, then another US$230. But now, after paying, how do I owe US$ 2 400? I can only agree to pay something like US$300 and something; that’s what I owe because I don’t know how I owe US$2 400. After all, they are supposed to subtract what I have already paid,” he said.
Vice chairman of the traders association Mr Ndodana Mlalazi said fluctuating figures without payments raised concerns.
“Someone is being billed something like US$15 000; you do another inquiry, you find it’s around US$11 000 and next time you inquire, it would have dropped to about US$7 000. So, my question is, where is this other money going, because these are just inquiries without paying anything,” he said.
“This shows there is something wrong there.”
SMEs also claimed NRZ had closed the facility for about four to five months over a rental dispute and billed for a period during which the traders were not operating, pointing out that this affected their livelihoods.
“Where do they think people can get money from? During the time the premises were closed, they were billing us.
This has affected us because that’s where we get money. If the facility is closed, where do SMEs get money, because all the machines were inside?” said the vice chairman.
He added that SMEs lost tenders, saying at one point NRZ didn’t pay electricity bills and there was a power cut, which also affected them.
“They didn’t even issue an apology for that. We lost business during that time,” he said.
“We are calling upon NRZ to scratch all this and start afresh because we no longer know what we are doing; we are confused now.
“We are calling for NRZ to stop closing premises for us; let them solve the issue without closing the premises.”
Mr Milikani Ndebele gave a similar account: “I was billed US$15 000 and I approached the accounts department and the bill was reduced to US$6 000.
“We don’t even know where these debts are coming from. NRZ seems to have two accounts departments. If you go to another office, you get a different amount, so we are calling them to rectify this because it is affecting us a lot.”
Bulawayo Chamber of SMEs vice chair Ms Sithabile Bhebhe said the dispute is blocking growth.
“This is affecting SMEs as they can no longer have proper planning. SMEs are supposed to do exhibitions, attend some indabas, which help them grow their businesses.
“However, when premises are closed based on rental disputes, all that is affected. We have an SME indaba in Harare, but many of our SMEs cannot attend because they have not been working for the past four to five months. They do not have money,” she said.
She appealed to NRZ to resolve the accounts matter urgently.
“We call upon NRZ to deal with this account issue because people are suffering. Many of these people have school-going children; they pay house rents and they have bills to pay; if you close them out, where are they supposed to get money?” she said.
“Closing their workplaces will not solve anything; rather, it will increase cases of theft and robbery because these people will end up trying to get money through other means.”
Contacted for comment, NRZ spokesperson Mr Andrew Kunambura said: “I will check and revert”.
He had not responded by the time of printing.
