By Gondai R Bangidza
As a development practitioner, looking at the Harare City Council proposed budget is like reading a document that lays bare the city’s challenges, ambitions and its underlying social contract.
It’s not just a list of prices; it’s a story about who pays for the city and what they get in return.
The city council is essentially arguing that this budget is necessary to fund critical services and infrastructure. From their perspective, the positives are holding the Line on Core Levies, targeting Revenue Where It’s Less Painful, Investment in Water Infrastructure?, Streamlining and Modernizing Fines.
However, from the perspective of an ordinary citizen, this budget tells a very different story—one of a struggling city placing a heavy burden on its people.
The water tariff hikes are brutal and inequitable. Imagine a family in a low-density area. Their basic water charge for the first 5 cubic meters is jumping from $1.70 to $4.90—almost triple.
For a service that is already unreliable, this feels like being punished for the council’s failure. It’s not a bill for water; it’s a bill for the promise of water.
The massive increases in burial costs are very dangerous. Burying a loved one is a fundamental, emotional necessity. Turning this into a major revenue stream by increasing costs by nearly 50% in some cases is seen as exploitative. It makes a difficult time financially catastrophic for many families.
While the council wants to tax the informal economy, the proposed fees could crush it. A woman selling tomatoes from a pushcart now has to pay for a weekly vending permit.
A small barber shop sees its license fee. These small, cumulative costs eat into the tiny profit margins of the people who are just trying to survive. It’s not fostering entrepreneurship; it’s bleeding it. The opposite can also be argued.
The budget reads like a document trying to plug holes rather than build for the future. There is a heavy reliance on fees, fines, and licences rather than a clear strategy for growing the economic pie.
The 2026 Harare budget proposal is a development tightrope walk.
For the Council they are trying to raise crucial revenue without triggering a political firestorm. By freezing residential rates and refuse charges, they hope to placate the masses while targeting businesses, the bereaved, and water users for most of the new income.
For the Citizen the budget feels like a series of painful squeezes on essential services (water) and life events (death), while offering little in return.
The social contract—”you pay taxes, we provide services”—is broken, making every price increase feel like an unfair penalty.
The final verdict will depend on whether the council can effectively communicate and deliver on the promise that this pain will lead to tangible improvements in water supply, waste collection, and public amenities. If not, this budget could become a lightning rod for public discontent.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of this publication.
