Harare City Council (HCC) says it is owed more than ZWL$56 billion by ratepayers, the central government, business and dormitory towns.
The local authority said as of 30 September this year, the city was owed ZWL$56 billion up from ZWL$16.8 billion in January.
This, according to the acting town clerk Phakamile Mabhena Moyo, has adversely affected service delivery as ratepayers and residents are the ones who fund service delivery.
Addressing councillors at the Finance and Development Committee Induction, Moyo said effective service delivery is at the centre of the city’s existence as a local authority. He said:
At the centre of effective service delivery is always people, processes, systems, financial and material resources.
The increasing demand for quality services from our stakeholders requires that we continuously work together to find innovative ways to fund our budget and increase our capacity to deliver.
Moyo said despite the billions of dollars the City of Harare is owed by ratepayers, the Council embarked on a recapitalisation programme which has seen it procuring service delivery vehicles, tractors, front-end loaders, refuse compactors and other plant and machinery.