Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. HARARE mayor Jacob Mafume has acknowledged that the capital city is losing “millions of dollars on a day-to-day basis” due to systemic corruption that is crippling service delivery and revenue collection.
The stark admission came out during his address at the Men in Business Conference in Harare yesterday where he outlined a digital transformation plan designed to eliminate human contact points that enable fraud.
“We lose millions on a day-to-day basis. We lose hundreds of thousands through parking fines, people reducing bills and many other leakages in the system that need to be plugged,” Mafume said, describing corruption as a national challenge that undermines the city’s financial viability.
To combat these losses, the city is rolling out a new enterprise resource package (ERP) to automate billing, payments and internal processes.
Mafume announced an ambitious goal for council to achieve 100% digital operations by next year.
“We want to remove the human element,” he said.
“Payment and everything should be on digital platforms.”
He said the system would form the backbone of council’s finances and accountability mechanisms.
The urgency of the reforms is highlighted by the city’s 2025 budget, which projects US$600 million in revenue.
However, Mafume revealed that council expects to collect about 70% of the target, attributing the shortfall to corruption.
The new automated system is intended to ensure residents’ payments are fully captured from source to use, enabling accurate audits.
He linked the financial haemorrhage to the city’s crumbling infrastructure.
Mafume indicated that plugging the leakages will free up crucial resources for critical upgrades to water, sewage and waste management systems.
“People want to understand where their city is going,” Mafume said.
“We want to work with business, international partners and central government to produce a city that we can live in with dignity.”
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