Bulawayo residents have commended the Bulawayo City Council’s (BCC) 2024 budget, stating that it has the potential to improve service delivery if properly implemented.
In an interview with CITE, representatives of residents’ associations commended the budget, noting that it speaks to the priorities of the city in terms of service delivery.
The council adopted a standstill budget for 2024, set at US$264,064,416, with the revenue budget pegged at US$167,462,100 and the capital budget at US$96,602,316.
Bulawayo Residents Association (BURA) chairperson, Winos Dube, said the budget was crafted with clarity and transparency, making it easy for residents to monitor the council’s work and hold them accountable.
“When we looked at the budget we realized that it has so much clarity and specificity, showing what will be done in what wards,” Dube said. “This is very plausible because it enables us as citizens to monitor the council on their promised projects and actually tell whether progress is being made or not.”
“We are also happy that the council was clear on the 30/70 ratio that residents have always talked about. That 30 percent can be used on council but the 70 percent of the revenue be channelled towards service delivery which is what we want as residents.”
Dube urged residents to play their role by paying their rates on time to complement the council’s efforts in improving service delivery.
“We know that the economic situation is very harsh and people are struggling to make ends meet, but we have to do our best to pay our bills,” Dube said. “For us to demand services we must pay the money that is needed. And also when residents have paid, council must ensure that it delivers the services adequately so that everyone benefits.”
“We want water to be prioritized,” Dube added. “Residents are struggling to access water so the council must ensure that the budget really works in terms of availing water. We also want roads to be fixed. Our roads are in a deplorable state. We want these things to be prioritized so that as residents we can actually be content that indeed the services we want are being delivered.”
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) secretary for administration, Thembelani Dube, said if implemented according to plan, the budget would have notable outputs.
“It is a good budget which, if effected as per priorities, will have visible outputs and outcomes, provided the incomes are realized as per planned,” Dube said. “It should be adequate considering that the debasing saw rates increasing by between 65% and 85% compared to what the residents were paying in 2018 and prior.”
