Outrage Erupts as Government Plans Prepaid Water System for Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls
The government’s announcement of plans to introduce prepaid water systems in Harare, Bulawayo, and Victoria Falls has sparked a social media firestorm, with critics calling the move premature and unjust.
Privatising Water Supply Systems
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe revealed that the government is actively seeking investors to revamp Zimbabwe’s struggling urban water supply system. The goal is to privatise water provision, addressing decades of inconsistent water delivery to urban ratepayers.
“We were given greenlight to privatise, we are now in the process of inviting the private sector players, both local and international, to bring proposals of interest,” Garwe said.
He disclosed that five companies—three international and two local—have already expressed interest.
“We want somebody with the capacity to engineer, procure, construct, manage and finance. So far, we have received five, three from international players and two from local players. It’s work in progress and we are hoping by the end of next week, we will have interviewed them and identified the suitable candidates,” he disclosed.
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When Government Plans to Introduce Prepaid Water System for Harare
Minister Garwe outlined an ambitious plan to address Harare’s chronic water crisis by the end of January, promising a modernised approach to water management.
“We want by the end of this month, to make sure that we have dealt with issues of water in Harare. We are not looking at a segmented approach, like what used to happen before but we are looking at an investor who comes and cover the whole value chain, from purification, distribution, billing and watering. We want to move away from the old meter system to a digital, smart water metering system. By the end of this month, or early February, you will see movements and we are not looking at Harare alone but all our cities. The priority areas are Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls, since it is our capital city for tourism,” he said.
Outrage Erupts Over Government’s Plans
The announcement has been met with widespread outrage, with citizens voicing concerns over water availability and accessibility. Many argue that introducing prepaid systems without first ensuring a reliable water supply is misguided. Others see the privatization of water as a violation of basic human rights.
Here’s what people are saying on social media:
@thelollytaylor:
There are some places in harare that have already adopted this only issue is when the water runs out you have to go all the way to zinwa to buy tokens. Secondly, has Harare city council sorted out the issue with the huge discrepancies with the bills they’ve been sending people
@valentine3p33:
Adopting Australian draconian ideas 
water will be more valuable than gold.
@The_Tent_Maker:
Water is a human right no?
@maharris263:
Prepaid water when there’s always no water.
@reemang12:
They should prioritise uninterrupted water supply before all this.
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