Bulawayo residents will have to wait longer for the announcement of the city’s 2025 budget after the recently formed budget review committee failed to meet its January 7 deadline.
The delay has been blamed on the slow provision of crucial documents by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and its initial decision to send junior staff to the committee’s first meeting.
The local authority was forced to revise its proposed 2025 budget following widespread criticism of controversial tariff adjustments. These adjustments were reportedly caused by the council’s use of an incorrect formula to index 2022 and 2023 tariffs to the US dollar.
In early December, the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works convened a meeting at the council chambers to address concerns raised by stakeholders, including the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), and two major residents’ associations.
Chaired by the ministry’s director of local authorities inspectorate, Ms. Priscillar Mudzinge, the meeting resolved to form a budget review committee.
The budget review committee comprises representatives from industry, residents’ associations (Bulawayo Residents Association, Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association, and Residents Chapter), tourism operators, and tertiary institutions.
Chaired by Residents’ Chapter chairperson Mr. Thamsanqa Ndlovu, the committee was tasked with revising the budget within a week and presenting it by January 7. However, delays in receiving requested information from the council have hindered progress.
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At a progress review meeting held on December 30, 2024, Mr. Ndlovu disclosed that a technical team, consisting of experts in statistics, mathematics, computer science, and accounting, had been assembled to analyse the council’s financial data, budgets, and tariffs.
However, the team reported that some crucial information from the council was still outstanding.
“During the special progress review meeting, the technical team informed us that not all requested information had been provided. Council representatives committed to delivering the necessary documents by December 31, 2024, with the remainder expected by January 6, 2025,” said Mr. Ndlovu.
“Without this information, the technical team cannot meet the initial January 7 deadline. A new timeline for completing the review will be announced once all outstanding data is received.”
The revised budget will reportedly use 2017 tariffs as its baseline.
In September 2024, BCC had proposed a US$309 million budget for 2025, focusing on improving service delivery, implementing gender-specific projects, and revitalising recreational facilities. However, the budget faced strong opposition.
The Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Dr. Martin Rushwaya, directed the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works to withhold approval of the 2025 budget until concerns raised by the business community about the 2024 budget were addressed. Dr. Rushwaya stressed the importance of engaging with stakeholders and addressing their grievances.
The CZI Matabeleland Chamber accused the council of using an incorrect formula under Statutory Instrument (51) 1184 of 2022, which mandates indexing goods and services prices to the US dollar and converting them to local currency at the prevailing bank rate.
This miscalculation led to inflated charges, forcing some companies in Bulawayo to cut operating hours or relocate to other cities.
Despite several meetings involving CZI, BCC officials, and Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Judith Ncube, the issue remains unresolved, resulting in a prolonged stalemate.
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