Poor planning costs Gwanda Municipality

Yoliswa Dube-Moyo, Matabeleland South Bureau Chief
The Municipality of Gwanda needs to devise ways of generating more revenue to meet its financial obligations and improve service delivery, an official has said.
The local authority recently took over management of the town’s water system from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) but constant water cuts continue to dog the mining town since the handover due to various challenges.

GWANDA Municipality
Gwanda Municipality owed Zinwa more than $270 million but in facilitating the handover, an agreement that allows Gwanda to retire the legacy debt, while Zinwa preserves the value of the outstanding amount was reached.
One of the municipality’s major headaches is a dumpsite that was condemned 10 years ago due to its proximity to homes.
The local authority has been trying to source funds to buy equipment that will be used to operate a landfill and close the dumpsite.
The dumpsite poses a public health threat as some children have turned it into a playground and residents have had to put up with hazardous smoke coming from the dumpsite.
Former Mayor and current Ward 7 Councillor Jastone Mazhale said the local authority is losing revenue due to poor planning and lack of foresight on how they can earn more.
He said the local authority needs to formulate new ways to accommodate how they can generate income.
He said the municipality is sitting on massive revenue streams outside of the selling of business and commercial stands where they are raising a lot of money.
He said if vendors are given a mandate to organise themselves into groups, the municipality would get revenue without investing in human resources.
Clr Mazhale said the same system could be employed in high-density areas where residents sell bales of second hand clothes from their homes.
Vendors were removed from the town centre in March 2020 to carry out a disinfection exercise and bring sanity in the town.
However, the traders insist on operating from illegal selling points which has heightened the cat and mouse game between them and council police. – @Yolisswa
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