Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MUTARE City Council mayor, Councillor Simon Chabuka, has ordered an immediate halt to the use of gravel for pothole patching, dismissing the practice as an inadequate response to the city’s deepening road crisis.
The directive was issued on Tuesday during a heated 1 336th full council meeting at the Civic Centre, as frustration mounts over Mutare’s crumbling road network.
The latest move is in line with President Mnangagwa’s urban renewal vision which is anchored in the National Development Strategy (NDS2, 2026–2030), which seeks to modernise Zimbabwe’s cities into inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable settlements.
The plan emphasises smart technologies, sustainable development, and the regeneration of ageing infrastructure, aligning with the UN’s New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goal 11.
Councillor Chabuka said gravel patching amounted to a “cosmetic fix” that failed to match the scale of decay, with 86 percent of the city’s roads now in dire need of major rehabilitation or complete reconstruction.
The ban, however, leaves council in a difficult position.
Its asphalt production plant at Dangamvura Link Road remains derelict, unable to supply the tar required for durable repairs — raising urgent questions about how the authority will deliver a lasting solution to the city’s worsening road woes.
Critics argued the ban risks being symbolic, with the council effectively “boiling the ocean” by committing to a standard it cannot meet.
Tuesday’s meeting departed from convention as councillors, council managers and the media first undertook a tour of several key sites before convening for formal proceedings.
The delegation inspected Murahwa Green Market Bridge, Moffat Hall, the idle asphalt plant at Dangamvura Link Road, St Joseph’s Cemetery and the newly established Dangamvura Rank, witnessing first-hand the extent of the city’s crumbling infrastructure.
The tour underscored the urgency of the situation, with deteriorating roads and stalled projects highlighting the challenge facing Mutare’s leadership as it seeks to restore public confidence in basic service delivery.
“The question is where the gravel ends up after two or three days. It is also clogging our drainage systems. The workmanship on our roads is equally poor. Look at those maintaining the Leopold Takawira near the Mutare Infectious Hospital — they are there daily doing the same thing, yet the potholes reappear within days. I am therefore saying there shall be no more pothole filling with gravel. It is better to leave them untouched until we have the tar to do the job properly,” said Councillor Chabuka.
Aware of the difficulty in securing tar, Mutare Town Clerk, Mr Blessing Chafesuka, immediately sought clarification, asking whether the directive was an instruction or a formal council resolution for future reference.
“I think we must be clear because you will come back and hold me accountable for this. We need to know whether this is a council resolution or simply an instruction that we are no longer filling potholes with gravel,” he said.
Councillor Chabuka replied: “Whether you regard it as an instruction or a council resolution, that is the direction we are taking.”
In his state-of-the-roads report, director of engineering and technical services, Engineer Maxwell Kerith, revealed that the council owes contractors more than US$3,5 million for road rehabilitation and construction.
“From ZINARA we received nearly ZiG2 million on March 27, equivalent to less than US$78 000. This was used as a part payment to Jefpik Construction for work on Simon Mazorodze. We still expect ZINARA to disburse ZiG10, 045 million under our 2026 allocation. For approved 2026 ZINARA road rehabilitation funding, we have ZiG4, 493 million — enough for just 1,1km of Magamba Drive. We already have a contractor on site, but the full length is over 8,7km, yet we have funding for only 1,1km. Outstanding payments on Simon Mazorodze and Railway Avenue total more than ZiG7 million. There is also an administration allocation of ZiG1, 352 million for procuring a supervision vehicle for the roads division.
“On the condition of the roads, Your Worship, we have 293km of tarred roads, of which only 46km are in good condition, while 247km require either rehabilitation or reconstruction. We have 94km of gravel roads, all of which need re-gravelling. We also have 120km of earth roads, all requiring rehabilitation or reconstruction. Our total road network is 507km, Your Worship — 46km in good condition, 367km requiring rehabilitation or reconstruction and 94km requiring gravelling. In short, only 16 percent is in good condition, while about 73 percent needs rehabilitation or reconstruction.
“Under periodic maintenance, we are currently working on 0,78km of Simon Mazorodze, 0,75km of Railway Avenue, 0,75km of Railway Street and 0,65km of Bridge Road. Works are underway.
“We also have Industrial Road at 0,45km and Newcastle Road at 0,9km. Lastly, there is Glasgow Road at 0,9km. In total, roads under rehabilitation amount to 5,18km.
“Challenges, Your Worship, include grossly insufficient funding for road maintenance. The cost of bringing the entire network to a serviceable standard now stands at US$110 million. Road projects launched during the Sanganai Expo and the ZANU PF Annual People’s Conference remain unfunded by Central Government. A commitment of around US$8 million was made to the City of Mutare, and the council went ahead with the following projects for which payments to contractors are still outstanding: Railway Street, where we owe Jefpik over US$873 000; Bridge Road, where we owe Jefpik over US$670 000; Glasgow Road, where we owe Jefpik over US$783 000; Industrial Road, where we owe Jefpik Construction over US$410 000; and Newcastle Road, where we owe Huldreich Contractors over US$752 000. In total, Your Worship, we owe US$3,5 million, but works are continuing, albeit at a slower pace as contractors complain of cash-flow constraints.
“We also face challenges with Magamba Road. The contractor moved on site after receiving assurances that funds would be released by Treasury. The road is now in a worse state than before. We understand Treasury is equally constrained, so we will have to bear the burden of residents using the road in its current condition,” said Engineer Kerith.
Councillor Chabuka stressed the need to make Magamba Drive trafficable.
“Even if we can only grade Magamba Drive to make it passable, at least. It is a major artery serving Florida, Fairbridge Park, Bernwin, the Prisons, parts of Chikanga and Hobhouse, and linking to Munezhu. While we wait for Government, we may have to deploy a grader and some gravel. We understand the predicament, but we cannot simply fold our arms. Although it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, we should do something because it falls within the jurisdiction of the local authority. We are the ones who face criticism from the public. Let us patch it with tar, not gravel,” he said.
