Ratepayers in Bulawayo have been encouraged to pay their bills in foreign currency to improve the quality of service delivery in the city.
The call was made by the Chairperson of the Health, Housing and Education Committee, Ward 23 Councilor Ntombizodwa Khumalo, at a recent Full Council meeting.
Khumalo said that most ratepayers are settling their bills in local currency, which cripples service delivery because council service providers demand payment in foreign currency.
The city council recently started billing ratepayers in United States Dollars, but the option of paying in local currency remains open, where residents can pay the equivalent amount in local currency, at the prevailing rate of the day.
The decision to charge in United States Dollars was to mitigate the issue of inflation, which quickly erodes revenue collected in local currency.
Khumalo said that most companies making up the business community, despite operating their businesses in foreign currency, pay their bills in local currency.
She said that this is affecting the city’s revenue collection and service delivery.
Khumalo implored the city council to guard against money changers who frequent revenue halls and exchange currencies for residents who may otherwise pay in foreign currency.
She said that these money changers are affecting the revenue collected by the city council.
