Back to Index

Residents Voices - Issue 78
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
August 03, 2012

Residents call for expansion of Social Welfare Programme

Residents of Bulawayo have called on the government through the Social Welfare Department to expand the reach of the Harmonised Social Cash Transfer Programme (HSCTP) to other areas in the city and province as many citizens are wallowing in poverty due to the country's economic situation. Residents were speaking at two separate community meetings held by Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) in ward 29 (Magwegwe North and West) and ward 19 (Old Pumula) to discuss the HSCTP and its administration. It also emerged at the meeting that residents are generally unaware of the existence of the HSCTP, save for those who are beneficiaries of the scheme. Residents thus called upon the government to expand the reach of the project, and avail citizens with adequate information on the scheme to ensure transparency and accountability in its operations. Residents at the meetings attributed the problems that have dogged the programme to a lack of proper information dissemination arguing that many residents were ignorant of the existence of the programme and therefore had no idea how it should be administered. They said this lack of information made beneficiaries vulnerable to abuse by corrupt elements in their communities. The HSCTP is a social welfare programme that aims at easing poverty in the country through handouts to food poor and labour constrained families. The HSCTP is still in its pilot phase and currently running in only 6 wards in Bulawayo, namely Mzilikazi/Thorngrove (ward 8), Lobengula (ward 14), Old and New Magwegwe (Ward 18), Old Pumula (ward 19), Pumula South (ward 27), and Magwegwe North/West (ward 29). Already, residents of ward 18 have alleged corruption in the distribution of the funds.

Residents in the Dark on Metering Exercise

Residents are up in arms over the move by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) to install electricity pre-paid meters in homes without widely publicising the move to home owners. Last week some residents raised alarm that the parastatal was disconnecting residents with arrears when installing pre-paid meters, now they are irked that ZESA employees are descending on their properties out of the blue ostensibly to install pre-paid meters. A tenant in Queenspark complained that ZESA personnel arrived unannounced at his home and imposed the meter on his house-maid who could not make head or tail of what was happening. He said it should be a ZESA policy to widely inform residents of such exercises before they are implemented so that proper measures are put in place by residents for security reasons. Residents have called upon ZESA to inform residents that they will be installing meters in their areas in advance of their arrivals. BPRA has in the past called upon providers of public services and government departments to disseminate adequate information to citizens in order to ensure transparency and accountability in their operations.

Residents Meet Registry Official over Birth Certificates

RESIDENTS of Pumula South under the auspices of the ward's Child Protection Committee (CPC) last Wednesday (25 July2012) held a meeting with the Bulawayo Province Assistant Registrar in an effort to find ways to ensure that all children have access to birth certificates. More than 200 residents who are struggling to obtain birth certificates attended the meeting which was held at Pumula South Hall from 10am. It emerged at the meeting that one of the reasons people are failing to obtain birth certificates is lack of information on what is required for one to get the documents, while residents also argued that personnel at the registry's office are rude, and often fail to communicate with residents in Ndebele, which is the local language in the Matabeleland region. Residents also complained that requirements for obtaining birth certificates were stringent and needed to be addressed to ensure that all Zimbabweans can obtain birth certificates which are imperative for one to access basic rights such as education and recognition as people.

Visit the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP