Sixty-Nine Per Cent Of Water Bills In Bulawayo In 2025 Were Based On Estimates

The City of Bulawayo has admitted that nearly seven in every 10 water bills issued in 2025 were based on estimates rather than actual meter readings.

Residents are now demanding an investigation, saying they were charged high amounts for water that was rarely available due to prolonged water shedding.

According to the latest council report, only 31 per cent of consumers received bills based on recorded usage.

Residents say that even now their monthly water charges remain high, despite taps being dry most of the time. This has raised serious questions about how consumption is being calculated.

Council figures show that 1.1 million water bills were estimated between January and December 2025, accounting for 69.4 per cent of all bills issued during the year.

April and May saw the heaviest reliance on estimates, with 85 per cent of bills during those months based on projections rather than meter readings.

January was the most accurate month for billing, but even then, 47 per cent of bills were still estimates.

For the rest of the year, the proportion of estimated bills remained consistently above 60 per cent, ranging from 61 to 85 per cent.

By the end of the year, the average rate of estimated billing stood at 69 per cent, underlining the scale of the city’s metering and billing challenges. The report reads:

“The total number of meters city-wide in the month of December 2025 is 138 388,74 percent of the meters (102 406) were estimated, whilst 26 per cent (35 982) were visited for the purpose of obtaining readings.”

The City of Bulawayo also revealed that its average bill collection rate for the year, measured against the total amount invoiced, stood at 65 per cent.

In total, the council issued bills amounting to ZiG3 billion, of which it collected ZiG1.9 billion. Reads the report:

“Billing for December 2025 was ZWG264 million, equivalent to US$10.1 million. Collection efficiency in the month of November 2025 was the highest at 73 per cent.

“The January 2026 receipts will be measured against the December 2025 billing in the next month’s report.

“Throughout the year 2025, the amount received was less than the amount billed.

“Additional equipment, material and human resources are required to improve collection to current billing plus a portion of arrears so as to reduce the amount owed by debtors and increase cash availability for service delivery.”

Bulawayo United Residents Association chairperson Winos Dube has called for an investigation into the widespread use of estimated water bills, saying residents have long complained about soaring charges while the council repeatedly insisted there was no problem.

More: Sunday News