Harare owed ZWG2,747 billion, industry dominates debtors’ list

By Alois Vinga

INDUSTRY has topped the Harare City Council’s (HCC)  debtors list on the back of calls for the local authority to take stern measures against the profit-making sector.

Presenting the 2025 Budget, HCC Finance and Development Committee Chairperson, Costa Mande revealed that a huge proportion of the current total debt is owed by Industry.

“Debtors stood at ZWG 2,747 billion as at 30 September 2024 from the 31 August 2024 position of ZWG 2,550 billion. Debtors increased by 9.95% from the previous month’s position growth. The debt configuration is as follows, commerce, industry 66.13%, domestic 26.63%, government, 3.09%, and Dormitory towns 3.91%,” he said.

To contain the unsustainable debt levels, the HCC has tabled plans to fast-track the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, and extensive data cleanup to reduce errors and litigation through final demands and summons among others.

The growing figures come at a time when the City of Harare is saddled with old infrastructure, such as water and sewer systems, that require significant investment to rehabilitate.

The City used to benefit from World Bank-funded projects under Urban 1 and Urban 2. The focus was on improving basic infrastructure and services in  Harare. The World Bank pulled out from funding the Construction of Major Water Projects and Sewer reticulation programmes and the projects which are capital intensive and cannot be funded from their resources.

Harare is also saddled with several challenges choking service delivery due to lack of funding. A section of residents have castigated the City’s failure to collect rates for the current demise.

Other residents who spoke to our publication questioned the rationale behind the HCC’s continued targeting of residents on bill follow-ups at a time when the profit-making industry is let off the noose.