Bulawayo councillors have urged the government to intervene in long-delayed residential servicing projects across the city, saying thousands of residents who paid for housing stands more than a decade ago remain unable to build because inflation and past currency reforms wiped out the value of their payments.
The calls were made during a recent full council meeting, where councillors said servicing projects in Emganwini, Woodville, Tshabalala, Emhlangeni, Magwegwe West and Pumula South had stalled for years, leaving beneficiaries without basic infrastructure despite having paid for their stands.
Ward 18 Councillor Felix Madzana said many residents had fully paid for their stands before Zimbabwe’s economic instability eroded the value of the funds.
“On the servicing of residential stands, if you look at the projects that are yet to be completed in Emganwini, Woodville, Tshabalala, Emhlangeni, Magwegwe West and Pumula South, these projects have remained incomplete for more than 10 years because residents are now being asked to pay top-ups,” said Madzana.
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“If you check our records, most of them actually paid in full. They are victims of Government economic policies. The current government may not necessarily be to blame, but we have to find a solution.”
He said the unresolved issue had strained relations between the council and residents, with some disputes now before the courts.
“Residents of Magwegwe West have taken this issue to court. Imagine a local authority fighting its own residents in court. It paints a very bad picture,” he said.
Madzana urged the government to assist affected residents, arguing that if it could compensate former white commercial farmers, it should also help citizens whose savings were wiped out by currency reforms.
“I understand that the government is compensating former white commercial farmers for historical losses. These residents are also victims. If the government can compensate the farmers, surely it can assist these residents as well.”
He said residents should not be expected to pay twice for the same stands.
“Residents cannot afford to pay twice. By now they should already be living on those stands.”
Madzana proposed that Government support be channelled through devolution funds, with residents contributing a portion of the outstanding servicing costs.
“If the government pays a certain percentage and residents contribute the balance, they are willing to do that,” he said.
Ward 3 Councillor Mxolisi Mahlangu said infrastructure delays in Woodville and Emhlangeni had become symptomatic of wider service delivery challenges affecting the city.
He said reports indicating that water infrastructure was available in Woodville no longer reflected conditions on the ground.
“I have receipts from engineers showing when the materials were bought, but to this day they have not been installed,” Mahlangu said.
He added that some of the materials already delivered had since been stolen.
“Even the materials that had been laid have been stolen. The quantities that were originally sufficient for the project are no longer enough.”
Mahlangu criticised repeated bush-clearing exercises, saying they amounted to unnecessary expenditure.
“The bushes are being cleared for a second time. We are wasting diesel repeating work that had already been done,” he said, questioning why trenching and pipe installation had not commenced despite the availability of equipment.
“I don’t want to believe that we could not find even one TLB to dig trenches and lay water pipes in Woodville.”
Mahlangu also said outdated project designs and prolonged delays were forcing desperate residents to occupy land illegally.
“There are septic tanks already there. Let’s simply lay the pipes and pave the roads. Instead, people are now building in illegal settlements and the council ends up confiscating their tools. Because they are allocating stands among themselves, boundaries are overlapping, creating even more problems.”
He argued that councils should not bear the financial burden created by government monetary policies.
“If the erosion of money resulted from government currency changes, then the Minister of Finance has a responsibility to compensate local authorities. We are compliant taxpayers. We have a legal right to benefit from those taxes.”
Mahlangu also criticised the funding model for local authorities, saying councils received only a fraction of the revenue generated from motorists.
“We cannot run a city collecting rent while money collected from motorists goes to ZINARA, which then gives us 800 ZiG when we require millions of US dollars to deliver services.”
Councillor Sikhululekile Moyo said poor communication between council and residents had worsened tensions.
“What is painful is that when residents from Magwegwe West come to raise their grievances, instead of engaging them and explaining the situation, we chase them away.”
She also blamed changes in project developers for contributing to delays.
“The councillor appointed a developer and later dismissed the developer. That is part of what delayed the process.”
Responding to the debate, Bulawayo Mayor David Coltart described the Magwegwe West housing dispute as a long-standing and complex problem involving legal and financial complications arising from the country’s currency reforms.
“Residents of Magwegwe have pleaded with me over the last two years. I have convened meetings on this issue. It is a festering sore,” Coltart said.
“We have innocent residents who invested their life savings hoping to build homes for their families. More than a decade has passed without a resolution.”
Coltart said council’s hands were tied by the 2019 statutory instruments that converted foreign currency balances into local currency.
“We cannot ignore the Statutory Instrument of 2019. Those regulations converted US dollars into Zimbabwean currency. Most affected residents had paid in foreign currency, which was then converted by law. Council had no choice.”
He said both residents and the local authority suffered significant financial losses.
“All of us suffered. We watched our savings literally evaporate into smoke.”
Coltart defended council officials against criticism, saying they had simply implemented the law.
“We cannot blame management. This situation was created by legislation.”
He acknowledged that the council lacked the financial resources to bridge the funding gap without assistance from the central government.
“We simply do not have the resources to top up these projects ourselves unless the council specifically budgets for that purpose.”
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