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Tinomuda Chakanyuka, Sunday News Reporter
CONSUMERS must clear outstanding debts with local authorities and the country’s power utility company Zesa Holdings, to allow the entities to provide efficient services, the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe has said.
In an interview, CCZ executive director Ms Rosemary Siyachitema said by not paying off their debts and water bills, consumers were complicit to the poor service delivery by the public institutions.
“People need to pay up. Bills must be paid on time to allow the service providers to operate efficiently. That’s the only way consumers can hold the service providers accountable if they fail to provide services efficiently,” she said.
Zesa is owed more than $1 billion in unpaid bills. Ironically local authorities are some of the power utility’s biggest debtors with Zesa recently approaching the courts to recover the debts.
The power utility, unsatisfied with the rate outstanding accounts were being settled, has increased to 50 percent the amount of money it is deducting towards settling outstanding debts when customers are buying prepaid electricity.
Local authorities, on the other hand, are being owed hundreds of millions of dollars by residents, business and Government departments in unpaid water bills and rates. Ms Siyachitema said consumers should shrug off the mentality that the Government will at some point scrap the debts owed to Zesa Holdings and local authorities by individuals.
In July 2013 the Government directed all local authorities to scrap all outstanding rates as at June 30 that year, providing reprieve for many debt ridden ratepayers whose arrears dated back to 2009.
Later in the same year, Zesa Holdings wrote off debts for electricity consumers, while those whose accounts were up to date were credited $160 worth of prepaid power.
“We need to shrug off that mentality. We can’t expect Government to always come in and scrap debts like what happened in 2013. People were given a lifeline once with Zesa and municipality debts. Such a mentality of expecting debts to be scrapped disables our institutions, it affects service delivery and ultimately affects our economy,” she said.
Added the CCZ boss, “It would be unfair on those whose accounts are always updated if debts were to be written off again. It is everyone’s duty to pay bills and keep their accounts up to date. People should learn to pay for services rendered.”
Ms Siyachitema also took a swipe at some parastatals for shortchanging members of the public by using most of the money raised to pay salaries. She called for rationalisation of staff employed by parastatals.
“Some of these parastatals have created too many units and are top heavy. Their wage bills are too much compared to what they actually spend on service delivery. There should be a lot of staff rationalisation in parastatals. There are too many managers resulting in a lot of duplication of duties,” she said.
Local authorities have been on record lamenting the nonpayment of rates by consumers, a development they say has crippled their day-to-day operations. Some of the local authorities, citing cash flow challenges, have been struggling to employees.
On the other hand Zesa reportedly owes Mozambique’s Hydro Cahora Bassa (HCB) US$10 million and spends about $6,5 million every month to import 300 MW from South Africa. The power utility imports power to mitigate power shortages owing to low domestic generation.
@irielyan
Online Reporter