By Lynette Manzini
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume says the city is banking on improved water billing systems and a decade-long repayment strategy to settle a decades-old Chinese loan, as the local authority scrambles to restore critical water infrastructure.
Harare City Council has imposed a $1 monthly levy on residents in a bid to raise money to repay the Chinese debt.
While the government-backed loan facility was supposed to total $144 million, the city only received $77 million, plus labour charges amounting to $21 million. The loan was intended to improve water supply and sewage reticulation in the capital.
Despite owing millions of dollars, Harare residents continue to endure erratic water supply and persistent sewage bursts, with some areas having gone years without water. “Yet the city expects everyone to pay,” bemoaned a Harare resident who has not had water since January 2025.
Mafume shared his remarks after being questioned about the $1 monthly levy.
“At the present moment, we have no other alternative but to draw from this special levy, hoping that from this special performance, in a period of 10 years, we will have extinguished the debt,” he said.
“Should we improve our collection—bringing in water meters, improving our billing systems, and introducing our ERP [Enterprise Resource Planning]—we may be able to pay these loans a bit earlier,” he added. “It is better to pay the loan so that we can get new facilities to improve our infrastructure.”
Mafume also noted that while the central government once stepped in to pay $13 million on the city’s behalf, it now expects reimbursement. “The government wants the money back from the City of Harare,” he said. “The Chinese loan is still due and owing, minus the $13 million.”
According to the Mayor, most planned upgrades at the Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant were completed, but two pump installations remain outstanding after Chinese contractors pulled out.
