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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
HWANGE Local Board (HLB) has started billing the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) for using council’s water infrastructure on distribution of water in the coal mining town.

The decision comes as Zinwa recently disconnected a bulk water meter supplying the local authority’s Empumalanga Phase 4 over a $38 million debt.

While Zinwa has said it is owed $38 million by the local authority, council said the bill was miscalculated as the Local Board owed the water authority only $9,4 million and had already paid $6,1 million.

Council suspects that Zinwa bulk water meters are faulty and launched investigations on the discrepancy.

Responding to questions, Zinwa spokesperson Mrs Majorie Munyonga said the water authority discontinued services to Hwange Local Board over an outstanding bill which the local authority has not been servicing since October 2022.

She said the non-servicing of the account, coupled with tariff reviews at the end of 2022 and January 2023 saw the bill rising to levels that became unsustainable for Zinwa to continue providing service.

“Hwange Local Board owes Zinwa $38 million with $35 million being in respect of the bulk water account they use for the provision of water in Empumalanga Phase 4 and the rest being for their other accounts.

“Zinwa and the local authority are in discussion on how Hwange can retire the outstanding debt and these discussions are progressing. The local authority only made a payment after the disconnection but the payment fell short of clearing the debt or reducing it to sustainable levels,” she said.

HLB town secretary Mr Ndumiso Mdlalose said the local authority sought and got Government approval to bill Zinwa.

“We have already started billing the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) lease rental fee for use of our water infrastructure. We have so far billed them for the month of January and February.

“The lease rental fee was factored into our 2023 Annual Budget, which was approved by the Minister of Local Government and Public Works July Moyo in January,” said Mr Mdlalose.

He said the charge was arrived at following scientific calculations by Local Ministry officials in liaison with the local authority.

He did not state how much council billed Zinwa.

There have been continuous engagements between the two parties over management of water in Hwange with the local authority seeking to sole management water issues.

Hwange residents have also at some point petitioned Parliament to use its powers and allow HLB to take over water rights from Zinwa.

“The charging of the lease rental fee follows consultations with our parent ministry where it came to light that there was an anomaly in the use of our water conveyance infrastructure by Zinwa at no cost at all, yet council installed the infrastructure and is the one in charge of its maintenance.

“It is of paramount importance to note that the aforesaid water conveyance infrastructure belongs to council and was procured using ratepayers’ monies, thus Zinwa is obliged to pay for its use,” said Mr Mdlalose.

He said council was aware that most local authorities have taken over water management from Zinwa and HLB is also working on the same.

“We have already initiated the model at Empumalanga Phase 4 where Zinwa supplies water as far as to the bulk meter with us providing residents at their households. We initiated the process to takeover long ago and even residents once petitioned Parliament on the same issue in 2018,” he added.

Empumalanga Phase 4 is a fairly new suburb and was recently connected to water supplies before being disconnected by Zinwa which supplies the Local Board.

Mr Mdlalose said Zinwa’s bill is $28 million and council’s bill to the residents is $9,4 million, which is calculated from the resident’s water meters.

The discrepancy is about $18,6 million, he said, although according to Zinwa, the bill is $38 million.

He said the local authority will take its own meter readings to ensure that bulk meter water readings by Zinwa collaborate with the council’s own reading of the same. He said the council further seeks to establish the unit cost of water supplied by Zinwa.

The Local Board is also making efforts to reconcile customer accounts to determine those owing, with a view to supply water only to those that are paid up.

In 2018, Greater Whange Residents Trust petitioned Parliament saying there was need to put in place procedures and modalities to transfer water treatment, management and distribution from Zinwa to Hwange Local Board.

Parliament at that time noted receiving the petition but no action has been taken.

Mrs Munyonga said the decision to have a local authority or Zinwa run the water affairs in any jurisdiction is purely a preserve of central Government.

“Where the provision of water services has changed hands in other towns, the decision was solely made at the level of central Government. Such a decision is arrived at after certain conditions are fulfilled and complied with and the conditions include comprehensive roadmaps on how a concerned local authority intends to retire any debts owed to Zinwa.

“For the record there is no decision for Hwange to manage water affairs in the town as that decision can only be made at the level of Central Government. What may be only in existence is a desire to do so but which is not backed by any relevant legal or administrative processes,” said Mrs Munyonga.

She appealed to all water users who are in arrears to pay up.-@ncubeleon