THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc), working
with the police has advised tenants to anonymously use their offices and police
stations to report landlords who are demanding rentals in foreign currency as
the body prepares to swoop on the culprits.
Most landlords across the country are demanding rentals in
foreign currency for both residential and business properties. A survey by
Sunday News revealed that the practice of charging rentals in foreign currency
has spread to almost all towns and cities in the country.
In Bulawayo landlords in the high-density suburbs are
charging 100 Rand for a room while some charge US$50 for a five-roomed house.
In the low density suburbs landlords charge between US$200 and US$400 per month
for a three-bedroomed house.
“In the eastern suburbs the charges vary depending on the
type of surburb, location and state of the property,” said an estate agent with
offices along George Silundika Street. In Gweru houses in Mkoba are going for
about US$100 per month.
Students from Midlands State University (MSU) who rent in
Senga are made to pay US$50 per head and a landlord rakes in as much as US$500
for an average house in the high-density suburb.
“It depends on the landlord, some are charging US$50 while
others are demanding US$20 per head,” said a student from MSU.
In Gwanda, landlords prefer to charge in Rand and houses
are pegged between R200 and R2 000 per month.
However, Zacc has reiterated the Government’s stance that
the foreign currency demands were illegal. Zacc spokesperson Mr John Makamure
told Sunday News that while the monitoring of rental charges was not their
primary mandate, they were, however, working with the police to ensure the
implementation of Statutory Instrument 213 of 2019 which criminalises the
charging in forex without seeking such a mandate from the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe.
“What is happening is that we are working with the police
in monitoring this therefore we encourage members of the public to either
approach our officials or their nearest police station. As you might know Zacc
and the police are more of one entity in fighting such corrupt elements, worse
still when there is a specific law that criminalises such acts,” said Mr
Makamure.
Affirmative Action Group Matabeleland Chapter president Mr
Reginald Shoko took a swipe at the landlords saying such people were not only bleeding
the economy but were contributing to the suffering of Zimbabweans.
He said the fact that the landlords collected rentals in
forex but subsequently were not remitting their taxes and rates in the same
currencies was reason enough for them to be arrested and charged for
corruption.
“We know that some people now think it is normal to demand
rentals in forex but what monthly repairs do they do to their properties that
require foreign currency, they don’t pay rentals in forex, neither do they
remit taxes in forex. Clearly these people are contributing to the country’s
economic meltdown because what they are doing is tantamount to money
laundering,” said Mr Shoko.
Bulawayo Real Estate managing director, Mr Michael Nekati
said while it was illegal for landlords to charge their rentals in forex, they
were faced with a situation where some were demanding such payment as a means
of cushioning themselves from inflation.
“It is a difficult scenario because while you have the law
that criminalises this practice, landlords come in and claim there is a problem
of the runaway inflation hence I feel there is a need for relevant stakeholders
to look into this and come up with a lasting solution,” said Mr Nekati.
Meanwhile, Bulawayo residents are also up in arms with the
council over the local authority’s recent move to effect a 716 percent rates
and rental hike, with residents arguing that it violates their basic human
rights. This comes amid revelations that a meeting organised by the council in
Mpopoma to explain the council’s new credit policy was abandoned after the
local authority sent a junior official.
The local authority this month started billing residents
using their new rates as prescribed by the approved 2020 budget with a survey
by this publication revealing that residents are now forking out between $280
and $700 in council rates per month.
In a letter to the Town Clerk, Mr Christopher Dube,
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) secretary for administration
Mr Thembelani Dube said the new tariffs left residents exposed to the poverty
trap as a huge chunk, if not all their monthly savings would now be directed to
paying of council bills.
“The high increase means that residents will be forced to
pay more than 50 percent of their earnings towards utility bills which directly
violates the economic principles which recommends that utility bills should not
cost more than six percent of one’s earnings for them to be considered
affordable.
“The new rates fall outside what ordinary civil servants
earn and what residents are able to generate from informal trading. Residents
will not be able to escape the poverty trap given the high cost of rates as
they shall be left with no disposable incomes to pay on other needs after
paying council,” said Mr Dube.
The residents further accused the local authority of
ignoring their concerns regarding the budget claiming it was not accurate that
residents had endorsed it during outreaches held by council.
“This has been vindicated by the fact that during the consultations
on the credit policy, council is sending junior employees who go on their own
without anyone recording minutes and residents’ views. A meeting was recently
aborted in Mpopoma after residents protested the decision by BCC to send a
junior council employee with no one to take minutes and record their
grievances. Residents felt taken for granted by this gesture,” said Mr Dube.
Bulawayo Mayor, Councillor Solomon Mguni is on record
saying it was impossible for the local authority to review downwards its new
rates as these had been endorsed by both the residents and the Government. He
added that the new rates will enable council to provide services to residents.
Sunday News
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