BULAWAYO residents have accused the city council of burdening them with unexplained huge water bills at a time when they are going for weeks without water.
Residents said there is an urgent need to revamp the city council’s water billing system saying they cannot be forced to pay for services they are not receiving.
Bulawayo’s serious water crisis has seen the local authority failing to adhere to its gazetted water rationing timetable.
One of the city’s supply dams, Umzingwane, has since been decommissioned, with two more dams expected to be cut off next month.
As the water crisis deepens, desperate residents are forced to fetch water from unsafe water sources for cooking and other household needs.
According to residents, the water crisis has exposed the council’s water billing system as defective as they continue to receive unexplained huge bills.
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Bulawayo United Residents Association chairperson, Winos Dube, said the council’s water billing system was flawed.
“We have been discussing it for a long time, and our main concern has always been that the billing system used by our council is flawed,” Dube said.
“I am glad that, at some point, even some councilors have spoken on various platforms about how the current billing system is wrong.
“This means that everything needs a total overhaul; they need to revisit the water bills because the charges people are receiving are outrageous, especially when they aren’t even getting water.”
Dube said his association was engaging the council over the matter.
“We are engaging them, explaining the issues, and telling them our concerns,” he said.
“For your information, if individuals approach the council office with a query about these bills, you will find that there is often a change or revision.
“They will adjust the bill, which means what was initially written was completely wrong.
“If you go and make a complaint, they will address it and reduce the bill. What does that tell us? It tells us that everything is wrong.”
Dube said the council must reduce water bills by at least 50% as residents were not having access to the precious liquid.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association secretary, Thabani Ndlovu, said they had received several complaints from residents about unexplained water bills.
“We strongly condemn the whole billing system, especially on estimated bills and their currency conversion they did in May 2024,” Nldovu said.
Citizens Coalition for Change Member of Parliament for Emakhandeni Luveve, Discent Collins Bajila, said the council needs to overhaul its billing system.
“Clearly the Bulawayo City Council needs to attend to the billing system because if people are spending quite a number of days without water then they get high bills with water consumption it needs to be revisited,” Bajila said.
“However, there is a need to educate the public about fixed costs like reticulation, refuse collection.
“So there needs to be that separation between water consumption and fixed costs.
“But clearly the billing system in the city council is not functional and councilors have accepted this fact. It needs to be visited quickly.”
Council officials directed Southern Eye on Sunday to its spokesperson, Nesisa Mpofu for comment, but she did not respond.