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Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
BULILIMA and Mangwe Rural District Councils are operating in the red as their revenue collection is below target. Both local authorities have managed to collect less than 20 percent of the year’s projected budget halfway into the year. In a report, Bulilima Rural District Council Chief Executive Officer, John Brown Ncube, said the council managed to collect $399,970 out of a projected yearly budget of $2.1 million.

The report which was presented on the CEO’s behalf by the council chairperson, Councillor Morgen Ndebele, said the council service delivery was being compromised by limited resources. “We’ve managed to realise a half-year income of $399,970 and our target for the year is $2.1 million which brings our percentage collection to 18.8 percent.

“The first half of the year has been characterised by poor cash flows but we’ve made significant progress in implementing projects within various wards,” said Ncube. He said most projects had been made possible through private public partnerships with various stakeholders. Also presenting his mid-term budget performance report at their full council meeting, Mangwe RDC CEO, Nketha Mangoye Dlamini, said by end of June, the council had only collected 15 percent of this year’s total budget of $2.8 million.

He said there was no change in this year’s collections compared to those made by the council over the same period last year. Dlamini said this low figure made it difficult for council to deliver quality services as expected. He said the local authority established income-generating projects to boost their revenue base but the projects were not yet fully operational. “The income-generating projects that we had lined up for the year haven’t taken off at a large scale as expected. However, the council has approached ZB bank for funding of these projects and we’re working on securing a loan,” said Dlamini.

He said the council was losing a lot of revenue because of uncontrolled mining activities within the district. Dlamini said rate payers were also not forthcoming in settling their bills. “A meeting was held between traditional leaders from the district and councillors in a bid to bring them on board. “We hope councillors and traditional leaders will now work hand in hand in collecting development levies,” he said.