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Elliot Ziwira
Senior Reporter
Residents associations have decried the recently approved Harare City Council’s tariffs for basic services and cemetery charges that have risen by more than 10-fold of the 2020 charges in some instances backdated to January 1, 2021, calling them insensitive, insane and unsustainable.
This follows the approval without changes of the local authority’s $32, 7 billion budget.
In Statutory Instruments 65-69 of 2021 gazetted last Friday, Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo sanctioned Harare’s financial plan in terms of Section 229 of the Urban Councils Act (Chapter 29:15).
In terms of Statutory Instrument 66 of 2021, adult and minor residents are now required to pay $14 300 and $6 945, respectively for Area A+ burial at the city’s cemeteries, while for non-residents it’s $16 340 and $8 170 for the same space.
For Area A, the charges are now $8 170 and $4 085 for adult and minor residents, respectively, with non-residents required to pay $10 215 and $5 720 for burial rights.
Area B graves now cost $6 130 for adult resident burial and $3 270 for children. Non-residents are required to pay $8 170 and $4 085 to access corresponding amenities.
For cremations, the fees are pegged at $8 170 (adult) and $4 085 (child) for Hindu residents, while non-resident now pay $12 255 (adult) and $6 128 (minor). Non-Hindu resident cremations have been increased to $12 255 and $6 128 for adults and minors, respectively, while the corresponding fees for non-residents are now $16 340 and $8 170.
Charges for transfer of grave-site in Area A, B or A+, opening of a grave for an additional burial in Area A, reopening of a grave for first burial, memorial works and exhumation of a body in both Area A and B now cost between $2 045 and $20 425. In accordance with Statutory Instruments 65, 67, 68 and 69 of 2021, an average high-density household is now required to pay $1 275 per month for basic services, while a family in the middle or low density suburbs using at least two toilets will now be paying $4 321 monthly.
The first five cubic litres of water for a high-density suburb is now $115 compared to $20 in January 2020, $565 for a once-a-week bin collection up from $28, a sewer charge of $250 for each toilet up from $41 and a minimum property tax of $345 up from $56.
A family in a middle or low density suburb now pays $153 for five cubic litres of water up from $25, $803 for a weekly bin collection up from $42, and $375 for each toilet up from $91.
Rented council accommodation rentals have also been hiked.
Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) director Mr Precious Shumba told The Herald that the charges were unsustainable as they would impoverish the already overburdened ratepayers.
“When we consider that the residents are mostly in the informal sector, and they have been severely affected by the Covid-19 lockdown, it is going to be a nightmare for most ratepayers,” he said.
“Charging a minimum of US$100 for the burial of a relative at cemeteries in Harare is a bit insensitive on the part of the City of Harare.”
Zimbabwe National Organisation of Associations and Residents Trusts (ZNOART) national chairman Mr Shalvar Chikomba weighed in, saying the timing was wrong, since Covid-19-induced restrictions to contain the coronavirus had affected people’s earnings.
“Considering that economically things have not been well, because of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, where people have been surviving on hand-outs, as residents, we feel that the timing was wrong on the part of the City of Harare to hike tariffs for basic services,” said Mr Chikomba.
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