Online Reporter
Diana Nherera
Herald Reporter
HARARE Mayor Councillor Jacob Mafume said prepaid water meters being installed by the City of Harare in partnership with Helcraw Water will benefit ratepayers.
Speaking at the Amalinda Stream Crossing project in Glen View on Monday, Clr Mafume said people were complaining that council was charging them for what it was not able to provide.
“So once you have a prepaid water meter, if you do not get water, we will not charge you. We are no longer giving you a bill based on estimates,” he said.
Clr Mafume said ratepayers were able to pay for water using mobile platforms.
“So you won’t need to go and queue and so forth,” he said.
Cllr Mafume said prepaid meters mean tenants pay for electricity and water separately.
“For council, it means we get our money in advance and in real time and we can invest in water,” he said.
Cllr Mafume said the council has bought pumps numbers 7 to 10.
“These pumps were bought in 1976. We are already revitalising the Manyame link to purify it because we have an investment framework for our water,” he said.
Cllr Mafume said that they have not received so many complaints from the areas where the 40 000 prepaid water meters have been installed so far
“The complaints that we are receiving, we are dealing with them,” he said.
He urged ratepayers to repair cisterns and pipes to avoid paying a lot of money.
