THE City of Bulawayo’s persistent water and sewer infrastructure challenges, together with weaknesses in financial reporting, have been cited as major concerns in the Auditor-General’s 2025 audit of the local authority’s 2022 and 2023 financial statements.
Auditor-General Vimbai Chikwenhere issued a disclaimer of opinion for both years after failing to determine whether the council’s financial statements were prepared under the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) or the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), raising concerns over the reliability and comparability of the city's financial reports.
According to the report, the financial statements were prepared with reference to the Urban Councils Act [Chapter 29:15] and the Public Finance Management Act [Chapter 22:19], instead of adopting a recognised international reporting framework.
The AG warned that the omission reduced the usefulness of the financial statements.
“The financial statements may lack compatibility and may not be useful to users,” the report read.
The AG recommended that the City of Bulawayo fully adopts the IPSAS financial reporting framework.
Council management said it was working towards full compliance, to be implemented through IPSAS compliance by the financial year 2025.
The audit also exposed long-standing water management problems, revealing that the council failed to consistently read water meters during 2022, forcing it to bill some residents using estimated consumption figures.
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The AG said the practice resulted in possible underbilling and overbilling of consumers.
“Council billed its customers based on estimates during the year ended December 31, 2022. As a result, there was under and over billing of water consumption,” the report noted.
The report noted that this violated the council’s own revenue procedures, which require regular meter readings and prohibit intervals exceeding two months without readings.
The AG warned that the practice exposed the local authority to financial losses and reputational damage.
“Financial loss from under-billing and liability, reputational risk from overbilling and financial loss due to possible under or over billing of consumers,” the report noted.
In response, council management said it was reviewing staffing requirements in the revenue section while considering the introduction of smart water meters.
The audit further revealed that several critical water and sewer infrastructure projects remain incomplete because of inadequate funding.
The Lotshe Hlabangana sewer line project remains unresolved, while efforts to reduce water losses and repair damaged water pipes have only been partially implemented.
“The water project was not completed due to insufficient funding,” the report said.
The AG also noted that obsolete equipment at the Thorngrove Sewer Purification Plant had not yet been fully replaced, with funding constraints slowing progress despite ongoing implementation efforts.
The report assessed progress on previous audit recommendations and found mixed results.
Of the 13 findings raised in the previous audit, four had been fully addressed, four were only partially addressed, while five remained unresolved.
Although the council adopted IPSAS reporting from 2023, the transition is still incomplete.
However, several significant accounting issues remain outstanding, including the valuation of property, plant and equipment, the valuation of the council’s investment in City of Kings Business Ventures (COKBV), and the completeness of trade and other payables.
The latest audit findings add to growing concerns over Bulawayo’s ageing water and sewer infrastructure, which has suffered repeated breakdowns and funding shortages in recent years, while also underscoring the need for stronger financial reporting, improved governance and greater accountability in the management of public resources.
