Residents of Harare’s Sunningdale suburb have raised concerns over possible double billing after receiving September 2026 municipal statements showing water consumption charges despite having already paid for water through prepaid meters.
The anomaly has renewed questions about the City of Harare’s billing systems, financial controls and accountability with residents’ groups warning that households could be forced to pay twice for the same service.
City of Harare spokesperson Stanley Gama said the disputed charges resulted from a system error affecting some residents and that the council had begun reversing them.
“A section was incorrectly billed in Sunningdale due to an error on our system. Reversals have already started and all those remaining with issues can contact our revenue office,” Gama said.
However, civic organisations say the incident highlights longstanding concerns about the accuracy and transparency of the local authority’s billing arrangements.
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) director Reuben Akili said residents in Sunningdale, Sunridge and other low-density suburbs had reported receiving conventional municipal bills reflecting water consumption despite using prepaid meters.
“The continued appearing of water charges or municipal abuse validates our position as an association that the local authority billing system is shambolic and chaotic,” Akili said.
He said prepaid meters had been introduced with the expectation that they would improve billing accuracy but the continued appearance of consumption charges on conventional bills suggested that underlying problems remained unresolved.
Akili warned that residents could end up paying twice for water if the prepaid and postpaid billing systems were not properly coordinated.
“As residents, we call upon the local authority to address this issue because it becomes an issue of bad practice, an issue which then sees double or double dipping, where a person is being double charged for a service,” he said.
Community Water Alliance (CWA) national coordinator Hardlife Mudzingwa said the disputed charges could further strain household budgets at a time when many residents were already facing challenges accessing reliable water supplies.
“I think that’s double billing and it’s very unfortunate that we have households that are experiencing such an anomaly,” Mudzingwa said.
He added that residents were effectively paying for water through prepaid meters while being expected to settle additional consumption charges appearing on conventional municipal statements.
Mudzingwa said the situation suggested that the city’s billing arrangements were not adequately synchronised with its prepaid metering system, creating uncertainty over how much residents actually owed.
Beyond the immediate financial implications, he warned that repeated billing errors could erode public confidence in municipal water services and drive households towards alternative water sources.
“From an affordability perspective, it increases the cost, like I said. Then on access, some people might be forced to then limit the quantities of water that they receive or develop a lack of trust over the system, which forces them to then look for alternative water and abandon the City of Harare water,” he said.
Mudzingwa called for improvements to the billing infrastructure recommending that the council return to its previous BIQ enterprise resource planning system with necessary upgrades.
He also said clearer lines of responsibility were needed between central government and the local authority to prevent residents from being caught between the two when billing problems arise.
“Right now, you can go to central government, they will tell you that’s a responsibility of the City of Harare. You go to City of Harare, they tell you this system was imposed on us by central government,” he said.
He called for a clearer governance framework supported by legislation defining reporting lines and accountability alongside improved systems and ethical leadership.
Meanwhile, the Harare Residents Trust (HRT) said the September billing anomaly had left Sunningdale residents confused and concerned about the accuracy of council records.
The organisation said Ward 10 councillor Clayd Mashozhera had approached council finance officials for clarification following complaints from residents.
The officials were reportedly also puzzled by the disputed charges and were investigating their source.
“The water consumption charges are not supposed to appear on the bills of residents on prepaid water meters,” HRT said.
The trust called for the immediate reversal of the disputed charges, arguing that residents should not bear the financial consequences of an error originating within the council’s own systems.
“An investigation with no timeline leaves residents carrying the burden. Residents are being asked to keep paying for a problem they did not create,” the organisation said.
HRT said Harare residents had experienced billing problems for years, arguing that the latest incident reflected a wider failure to resolve longstanding weaknesses in the city’s billing arrangements.
“For a very long time since 2019, residents of Harare have experienced chaotic billing, and the City of Harare does not seem to know how to resolve it,” the trust said.
The organisation urged the council to identify all affected households, compare disputed charges against prepaid meter records and correct accounts without requiring every resident to lodge an individual complaint.
It also called for any wrongly charged or already paid amounts to be reversed, credited or refunded through a transparent and verifiable process.
HRT expressed particular concern about the potential impact on vulnerable households, including elderly residents and children heading households who may struggle to interpret municipal statements or challenge questionable charges.
The trust said the council should strengthen safeguards by improving the link between prepaid water meters and municipal billing records.
“The central issue is not simply whether the September bills can eventually be corrected. It is whether the City of Harare is prepared to take responsibility for errors in its systems, protect residents from unjustified financial demands and restore confidence in municipal billing,” HRT said.
While the council says reversals are under way, residents’ groups are calling for a clear timetable for resolving the disputed charges and stronger safeguards to prevent similar errors.
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