Residents of Ward 20 in Bulawayo have called for greater accountability from the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) regarding the management of proposed special water and road levies.
In its proposed 2025 budget, the council is proposing the introduction of a special roads levy and a special water levy, with domestic properties expected to pay US$1 per month for each levy, while commercial properties will pay US$10 per month.
The council aims to raise US$2.22 million per project and has promised that the funds will be ring-fenced, asking residents to trust that the money will be used exclusively for these projects.
Speaking during the meeting, a resident, Junior Sibanda expressed concerns over the council’s ability to safeguard the funds.
“You are talking about ring-fencing but the problem is not there, in my analysis what is missing in the council is discipline to say when we pay the money for road levies, no one will put their hands in this money. I am very sure that when you experience a problem in another department you will put your hands, so I don’t think ring-fencing will work,” said Sibanda.
Another resident, Soneni Moyo, requested more transparency on the exact amount the council requires for the water and road projects, so residents can better understand the budget needs.
Meanwhile, another attendee, identified as Msaka, urged the council to provide clear pricing for the equipment they intend to purchase.
“As residents, we want a straightforward thing, you know the pipes are dilapidated, you should tell us the cost of those pipes, not tell us that you will see how much it will cost, there is inflation, let us run away from inflation, you have field guys who went around checking preparing for the budget, you need to tell us how much you need,’ he said.
Dennis Dube, another resident, criticised the council’s use of gravel on roads, pointing out that it is washed away during the rainy season, leading to unnecessary losses.
“When the rains come, it is washed away, is that not a loss, why can’t you do something permanent,” Dube asked.
In response, a council representative, Mr Ngwenya refuted claims that the council mismanages funds allocated for specific projects.
“As it is the devolution money is ring-fenced, no matter how broke we are, we don’t take that money. Even the money for stands we don’t touch it. At the moment, due to water challenges and dilapidated water infrastructure, we want to resuscitate that infrastructure and we are going to do that,” he said.
Ngwenya said the residents will pay the special levies until the local authority achieves the projects they want, “ thus when we will stop these road and water levies.”
“Due to the expense of the equipment, it might not take one or two years. I don’t have the estimated cost because this is capital, it will need the focus for five years. The amount we can take provisionally for 2025 is US$33 million on water infrastructure only, looking at our US$1, the likelihood to collect US$33 million is impossible,” he said.
He added that the local authority is aware of the prices of the equipment needed but their main focus is how much they can get as these are not projects which can be fixed within a year.
“They have been staggered, and some of them are inter-related, you cannot do project number two without finishing project number one, hence we saw that if we ask for a dollar for a period of time, it wont have a serious punch on your finances looking at the economic situation.”
He also addressed concerns about the temporary use of gravel on roads, stating it was a stop-gap measure to prevent accidents while the council awaited more durable materials.
“As it is there are efforts to receive it before the rainy season,” he said.
Chief Fire Officer, Mhlangano Moyo also explained that the local authority is also trying to replace water meters through special water levies.
“What we saying is we are also trying to even change water meters that were left by Smith, even the pipe from Ncema is rotten, it bursts continuously, so you might think the US$1 is too much but it is a long term to say where are we going. This money will focus on covering different things,’ said Moyo.
Mathe, from the council’s Human Capital Department, assured residents that the funds would be used appropriately.
“In our papers, we said the special levies for water will give us US$2.22 million a year, the road levies will also give us US$2.22 million a year as well. This dollar will be paid for a year, I want to promise that we will use this money well. The money we need for roads and water is too much, these dollars are not the ones that will fix, its just for assisting so that when we approach donors, we are also found doing something, you cannot ask when you have nothing,’ he said.
He also noted that the council requires US$1.5 million just to maintain the current road infrastructure, stressing that the levies were a small but essential contribution to the overall budget.
