ZIMBABWE: Urban Residents Left Behind by Dollarisation

• by Ignatius Banda (bulawayo)
• Tuesday, April 28, 2009
• Inter Press Service

The parallel use of multiple currencies announced in January by Tendai Biti, the newly appointed minister of finance in the unity government, effectively rendered the local currency extinct in everyday transactions. According to economists more stable currencies are being preferred as a hedge against hyper inflation and the local currency's volatility after years of economic recession. But the policy barons appear to have underplayed the local reality of ratepayers who do not have access to foreign currency.

Embattled industry and commerce officials say employers are struggling to keep their businesses afloat and have not yet made arrangements to pay workers in foreign currency. In the public sector the situation appears even worse as the government has not been able to secure funds for civil service salaries. It is commonplace these days for bodies to lie in state morgues for days as relatives struggle to raise burial expenses that must also be settled in foreign currency.

Residents in high density areas are expected to pay 15 U.S. dollars a month towards refuse collection, water consumption, sewerage and the general maintenance of the city. More affluent areas have to fork out more than double that amount. All households are also charged $100 for electricity. But revenue collection constraints have hamstrung the local authority and impacted on its ability to deliver services.

'We know it is difficult for everyone right now but [cannot] expect a change in service delivery as long as residents [don't] pay their bills,' said Thelma Khuyo of the council's finance department.

'Even in the past, before the introduction of forex, we would have residents in arrears and houses would be auctioned. But now many who feel like not paying are just ignoring their bills.'

Bob Mguni of the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BUPRA) concedes that the failure to pay utility bills has made matters difficult for the council but maintains that residents have no choice.

'There has been no deliberate call by any association to boycott bill payment. This is not organised mass action. What the people are simply doing is responding to their economic realities.'

Winos Dube, chairperson of the Bulawayo Residents Association (BURA), which was formed in the 1960s said residents will never sustain council activities through rates alone.

'We have in the past suggested that the council must have some kind of income-generating projects since the municipality already has a number of assets and properties but this has not happened.'

While acknowledging the council's poor finances, Bulawayo mayor Thaba Moyo contended that officials were trying to find solutions to the city's woes. On Mar. 16 he announced that the local council would purchase water purification chemicals for the next three months.

The source of the funding is not known but many believe the city is trying to appease increasingly restive residents, as unclean water has been a source of conflict in the past.

Last December, the mayor had complained that the city was unable to procure chemicals because suppliers were demanding cash upfront. It also coincided with a three-month strike by municipal workers who demanded to be paid in foreign currency. The industrial action put further strain on the perennially broke council and its already under-par service delivery.

Residents have taken it upon themselves to volunteer their services to spruce up a city once celebrated as one of Africa's cleanest. Groups of women have resorted to tending to council-owned schools where they, among other things, cut overgrown grass. Young people have organised clean-up campaigns to remove the rubbish that has been piling up across the city. It is not unusual these days to see unemployed youth filling potholes in the streets for tips from motorists.

'We have to do this as we all know the city council is failing to do it themselves,' Owen Garise, a local youth commented.

'We have taken it upon ourselves to do something and have among other things asked residents to donate in cash or kind to the city's largest hospital,' Dube told IPS.

A former councilor, Howard Hadebe, applauded citizen efforts to assist the municipality but cautioned against resident associations taking stands that 'identify' them with a political party and 'spoils' the relationship between the local authority and residents.

'For example, when you question how council budgets are reached without consultation with residents, you are painted with a particular political brush,' snapped Dube. 'It is unfortunate that once politicians are voted into power they do not listen.'

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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