BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) finance chairperson councillor Mpumelelo Moyo, has said the credit control policy is assisting in reducing the debt owed by residents.
Moyo told Southern Eye that consultations were made before putting the policy in place years back and it’s working.
“The knowledge and awareness by the residents of the existence of such a policy enhances ease of debt collection,” he said.
Moyo said the debt owed to council was increasing at a slower pace.
“In May and June 2024, the debt increased by 14 and 16% respectively, in July the increase in the debt was 10%, representing a decline in the growth of the debt. This is due to debt collection measures [in place] in the city.”
BCC last year expressed concern over the ballooning debt owed by ratepayers, despite the local authority implementing a credit and debt management system with flexible payment terms.
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Moyo said the harsh economic situation was affecting residents’ ability to settle debts.
He said the local authority approved the credit and debt management policy in February 2020 with the purpose of ensuring that the city’s approach to debt recovery was sensitive, transparent and equitably applied and also to make sure that all revenue due to the city was collected timeously in a cost-effective manner.
Moyo said the credit policy was helping in recovering money owed. He, however, said the enforcement of the provisions of the policy was being stalled by the current adverse economic conditions which were impacting negatively on the residents.
Moyo said the outstanding debt was getting close to US$11 million.