Source: Audit reveals deep-rooted operational failures at Bulawayo City Council – herald
Vusumuzi Dube, vusumuzi.dube@sundaynews.co.zw
A RECENT internal audit of the Bulawayo City Council has laid bare a range of structural and operational weaknesses that continue to undermine the city’s ability to support business activity, raising fresh questions about governance, infrastructure and the pace of reform in Zimbabwe’s second-largest city.
The audit that was necessitated by the need to assess the local authority’s ease of doing business was conducted over several months and circulated internally late last year.
It found that critical municipal processes remain fragmented and heavily reliant on manual systems, a situation that has resulted in inconsistent service delivery and duplicated work across departments.
For businesses, the report noted that these inefficiencies translate into delays, uncertainty and uneven customer experiences that erode confidence in the local authority.
The administrative shortcomings are compounded by severe infrastructure deficits that the audit describes as among the most pressing constraints on Bulawayo’s economic recovery.
In a survey cited in the report, 93,8 percent of businesses said poor infrastructure had directly affected their operations.
Respondents pointed to dilapidated roads, frequent water shortages, inadequate drainage systems and unreliable waste management services as persistent obstacles to productivity and growth.
“We noted that while the city has deployed several digital initiatives including the BlueDot notification system for application status updates, online service application portals, online digital payments and a partially implemented electronic document management system, these systems operate in isolation.
“Departments such as Town Planning. Health Works and Water and Sanitation use independent platforms that do not communicate with each other. Applicants are therefore required to submit the same information multiple times when applying for related services. Although initial submissions are digital, physical files are still manually transferred between departments for review and approval,” reads the report.
The report noted that a survey revealed that 73 percent of businesses experienced confusion when dealing with multiple systems, with staff interviews revealing that they were frustrated with having to enter the same data repeatedly, additionally, process mapping identified 23 points where manual interventions occur, presenting opportunities for automation to improve efficiency.
It was noted that despite the availability of digital platforms, 32 percent of applications still follow predominantly manual workflows, furthermore, there is significant departmental resistance, as some teams continue to use manual registers in conjunction with the digital systems.
Additionally, key steps, such as site inspections and inter-departmental consultations have not been digitised and remain entirely manual.
“The overall average turnaround time for applications has improved significantly from 45 days to 18 days. However, considerable variability remains across departments and application types.
Notably, only 32 percent of applications meet the targeted two-week timeline per department with the Water and Sanitation department identified as the primary bottleneck. Some applications in this sector have been pending for more than 90, days underscoring the extent of the delays.
“Several factors contribute to these challenges. Firstly, there are workload disparities: the Water and Sanitation Department manages thrice as many applications as other units, yet lacks a dynamic resource-allocation mechanism responsive to application volume, furthermore, approximately 42 percent of applications necessitate additional information, highlighting a prevalence of incomplete submissions.
The lack of a standardised pre-submission checklist further exacerbates this issue,” reads the report
The report noted that another contributing factor is the emergence of capacity constraints, notably critical staffing shortages, such as having only two water engineers instead of the required five and an ageing workforce that lacks effective succession planning.
In terms of infrastructure, the state of the city’s roads has increased transport costs and vehicle maintenance expenses, while erratic water supplies have forced some firms to scale back production or invest in costly alternatives, with the report noting that a survey found that 93,8 percent of businesses in
Bulawayo face significant challenges that affect their operations.
“Poor road conditions have increased vehicle maintenance costs by 45 percent and reduced customer accessibility while frequent water outages, experienced by 62 percent of firms have disrupted manufacturing, hospitality, and food processing.In the Central Business District inadequate drainage causes flooding, property damage and temporary business closures during the rainy season.
“Accumulated refuse in sanitary lanes has worsened public health risks and damaged business reputations, forcing some companies to hire private collectors at additional cost.
These deficiencies spanning roads, water, drainage, and waste management, pose significant barriers to competitiveness, investor confidence and economic growth. Addressing them is critical to sustaining local enterprises and ensuring Bulawayo’s long-term business resilience,” reads the report.
The audit also highlights a chronic shortage of serviced industrial land, a problem that has lingered for years and continues to deter potential investors.
While demand for industrial space has grown, especially from small and medium-sized enterprises, the city has struggled to develop and service new sites with adequate water, sewerage and road access.
“The City of Bulawayo has made commendable strides in strengthening investor support through the establishment of the Investment Promotion and Facilitation Desk in collaboration with Zida and Zimra, and regular investment forums.
However, the lack of readily available serviced industrial land remains a significant barrier to attracting investment and expanding businesses
“Additionally, large tracts of privately held non-functional industrial properties remain idle, with ownership and speculative retention impeding reallocation to productive investors.
This situation reduces the pace of industrial growth and undermines Bulawayo’s competitiveness relative to other cities implementing proactive land-servicing models,” reads the report.
As part of the proposed solution the audit noted that the City’s Transformation Strategy, which is rooted in digital integration, process automation, infrastructure revitalisation, strategic land servicing, regulatory standardisation and customer service excellence, offers a promising path for sustainable improvement.
“If effectively executed, the strategy is projected to yield significant benefits, including a 95 percent digital transaction rate, a 50 percent reduction in manual interventions and 90 percent customer satisfaction, within the next five years,” reads the report
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