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Lovemore Zigara  Midlands Correspondent
ZVISHAVANE Town Council is pinning hopes for boosting its coffers on the opening of Midlands State University Zvishavane Campus which will house a school of mining engineering. The local authority has failed to meet its budgetary revenue targets since the adoption of the multi currency system in 2009. Failure by residents to pay bills has been blamed on the shutting down of Shabanie and Mashaba Mines which caused about 3,000 ratepayers to lose their jobs.

MSU is expected to open the new campus next year after purchasing properties belonging to Shabanie and Mashaba Mines.

Presenting an unchanged $6,54 million proposed 2015 budget, town secretary Tinoda Mukutu said the closure of several firms including Sabi Mine and Delta Beverages in the mining town had worsened council’s cash inflows.

“The situation at Shabanie Mine has worsened and there are no indications that the mine will resume operations. We only hope there will be some form of activity when Midlands State University which intends to use the facilities in 2015 starts its educational programmes.

“Sabi Gold Mine which used to be supportive in terms of payments closed operations and is now under judicial management. In July Delta Beverages closed its Zvishavane brewery due to viability challenges and this also affected our cash flow position,” he said.

The town secretary said due to the closure of the firms, council had only managed to collect 35 percent of the $6,5 million budgeted as at August.

He said council is now anticipating collecting $3,5 million budgeted revenue as at December 31 and the deficit will be offset by borrowings.

Mukutu said council will continue to enter into Public Private Partnerships since government had not committed to fund some of its capital projects through the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP).

“Our council did not receive any funding from central government and we continue to depend on our own internal resources to fund capital projects. The ministry (of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing) has advised all councils not to budget for PSIP Funding.”

Local authorities countrywide are suffering from low revenue collection as, according to Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa, 4,610 companies have closed shop since 2011, leaving 55,443 workers struggling to pay for services.