Delayed govt funds see council use parking revenue for road repairs

Bulawayo City Council (BCC) officials say they have been forced to tap into proceeds from the city’s parking management partnership with Tendy Three Investments (TTI) to continue road and parking bay works, citing delays in government disbursements.

Finance Director Tennyson Mpunzi told journalists that with delays from the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA), the council has had no choice but to rely on TTI funds to pay suppliers and keep projects on track.

“We have spoken about how funds from ZINARA are being disbursed. Sometimes they delay and we struggle to pay our suppliers. TTI funds come in handy there and we use those funds to settle some of the debts,” he said.

“Remember if you delay in settling debts you incur some interests, so those funds are utilized in terms of covering that gap before we receive monies from ZINARA.”

According to the council’s proposed 2026 budget report, from January to 31 August 2025, a total of US$558,336, R140,398, Pula 8,107 and ZWG$5,267,286 was received from the parking management partnership. So far, 6,978 parking bays have been marked across the city.

City engineer Mondo added that the money has also allowed the council to continue work on parking bays and road repairs.

“We have been able to resuscitate some work on our parking bays and pothole patching. We have also topped some funds that have been applied along George Silundika,” he said.

Mayor David Coltart clarified that under the agreement with TTI, the council can only use proceeds from the parking company in areas where the firm operates.

“In terms of the agreement with TTI, we can only utilise those funds in the areas that TTI is operating or may operate in. For example, we cannot take those funds and use them in Luveve; we can only utilise them where TTI operates,” Coltart said.