The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has invited ZAPU for a stakeholder’s engagement meeting to discuss the ‘contentious’ parking system that is in place in the city.
This comes after ZAPU announced that it was preparing to hold a protest March demanding the suspension of Tendy Three Investments (TTI) operations in the city until the concerns of motorists are attended to.
The party is still going ahead with its March.
TTI was contracted by the local authority to manage its vehicle parking system and is charging US$1 per hour, which was revised from US$1 for 30 minutes following a public outcry.
Read: https://cite.org.zw/zapu-prepares-to-march-demanding-suspension-of-tendy-three-operations/
“In a letter to ZAPU, the Bulawayo Town clerk, Christopher Dube, invited the mother party for a discussion to be held at the council chamber this Monday at 2.30 pm.
“You are cordially invited to attend a Stakeholder’s Engagement meeting on the Smart Parking Project, which is being implemented in the City on Monday, April 11 2022, in the council chamber at 14.30 hours,” read part of the letter
But ZAPU Secretary-General, Mthulisi Hanana, said the party had other planned engagements on the day but would meet BCC in “due course.”
“We, however, continue to mobilise for the Peoples March at a date to be advised,” he said.
ZAPU has been on BCC’s case, as it first petitioned the local authority to develop a capacity to enforce by-laws and stop punishing residents for their shortcomings by introducing harsh policies that are not alive to the city’s prevailing harsh economic realities.
The party argued that the exorbitant parking fees seemed to be a deterrent to people who were selling their wares from their cars and illegal money changers commonly known as Osiphatheleni, which BCC was failing to manage.
I wonder how much other cities are charging for parking. Anyone who has done that research kindly share.