A fortnight ago, the council handed over about 100,000 indebted residents to four different law firms in a bid to recover the money. The firms in turn wrote letters of demand advising that they would start attaching residents’ property if they failed to settle the debts in full within seven days. Fees were also charged by the law firms for their services in trying to recover the debts.
Residents are outraged that the council did not consult them before enlisting services of debt collectors, and said the city was now at war with its own people.
Sydney Huruve, 23, an orphan, said he received the letter from the debt collectors on the day his only remaining guardian died. He is desperate on how to avoid attachment of the family property.
Defenceless
“I do not have the money. I am unemployed. Both my parents passed on and my brother who used to pay rates for the family house died on the day we received the letter. We owe council about $600 but I cannot raise it in full. If they had asked for a payment plan I would have run around but now I am afraid my family’s property is going to be attached. I am defenceless,” he said.
Estha Madziva, 63, of Senga suburb, said: “During the colonial era we never faced such a predicament. What the council has done is worse than the atrocities of Ian Smith’s government. How can you take delight in grabbing property of the poor who are actually even failing to feed themselves?” she asked.
Gogo Mukai Madziva, 91, said if council goes ahead to attach her household property, she will be left in a desperate situation because all her children and siblings who used to take care of her have died and she is left with grandchildren who depend on her for their survival.
Somebody must help
“We actually need government assist us old people to earn a living. I do not have the money to continue paying council. If they decide to grab my household property that will seal the future of me and the poor grandchildren I live with. Somebody must help us,” she pleaded.
Her neighbour, Shumirai Chimburi, 54, a widow who owes council about $400, said the council management should solve the economic crisis first if they want to operate in that way, “which is expected when things are normal in a country. They should just focus on the bigger picture that has caused this problem and made us unable to pay,” she said.
Terius Sithole, 59, an unemployed widower from Mkoba , said he was battling a health problem and failing to meet costs of medication. “I owe council $134 but at present I cannot afford to pay them. My house is full of faulty electric gadgets that I plan to fix when my health improves. My fear is that if council comes to attach my property, such items will be taken together with equipment that I use to fix electric gadgets in order to earn a living,” he said.
Emma Muguti, 85, said some people in her neighbourhood suffered from a stroke after receiving letters of demand. She urged council to halt its intended move to attach property of its creditors and instead seek dialogue on how the debts can be settled.
Protests planned
Ronald Chikwenhere, 38, the programmes coordinator for Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association, described the process as flawed.
“The residents were supposed to be consulted first in order to find amicable solutions. How can you expect someone who has struggled to pay rates for years to then suddenly do so in seven days?” he asked, adding that his association was in the process of obtaining permission from police to roll out demonstrations in all the city’s suburbs in a bid to force the city fathers to reverse the process following their refusal to negotiate.
Mayor Hamutendi Kombayi said his office had received numerous complaints on the issue. He said he personally felt very sorry for the affected people, especially those who are disadvantaged and promised to engage management on how to resolve the crisis.
“I do not work alone. There is management that should be engaged first before the issue of debt collectors can be reversed. We will find out how the people can be helped but in the meantime, those who afford should just pay while those in difficulties should approach their respective councillors for assistance. Council needs the money in order to provide services. So we are caught in a fix,” he said.
Post published in: News