Harare City Council Offers Discount Benefits For Paying Rates In Foreign Currency

Harare Rates Discount Window Opens With Extra Incentives For Forex Payments

Harare residents and businesses are being urged to settle their outstanding rates as the City of Harare rolls out discounts and incentives for payments made early in 2026, including added benefits for those who pay in foreign currency.

The move comes as the local authority admits it is struggling to keep services running amid serious funding challenges, with billions owed in unpaid rates. The offer was announced on Wednesday, 14 January 2026, in a formal statement by Harare Mayor, Councillor Jacob Mafume.

The Mayor said the incentives are part of efforts to stabilise service delivery following the launch of the Minimum Service Delivery Standards, gazetted as Statutory Instrument 171 of 2025, which sets binding benchmarks for local authorities.

“Council is owed over ZWG 8.4 billion”

In the statement, Mayor Mafume laid bare the scale of the debt choking City of Harare operations.

“Council is currently experiencing a downward trend in service delivery across all its programmes due to funding constraints,” he said.

“Council is owed over ZWG 8.4 billion by residents, business and government departments and agencies. Eighty percent of our debt is owed by residents, whilst the other stakeholders contribute 20%.”

He said some of the debts stretch back more than a decade, with revenue collection now central to restoring services.

“A minimum collection rate of 80% is set for 2026 with progression to reach 100% thereafter,” Mayor Mafume said.

“This is an enabler to continued service delivery hence all relevant parties have to perform their respective mandates.”

The City’s service delivery index averaged 52% in the last quarter of 2025, a figure described as far below acceptable standards for a liveable capital.

Discounts, foreign currency incentives and loyalty credits

Against this backdrop, Council is offering discounts of up to 20% to ratepayers who settle their accounts between 19 January and 15 February 2026.

Mayor Mafume said those who pay in foreign currency will receive extra benefits.

“Residents who pay their debts in foreign currency will enjoy additional benefits,” he said.

“I encourage all our rate payers including those in the diaspora to settle their bills in foreign currency to enjoy these additional discount benefits.”

He added that customers who are already fully paid up will not be left out.

“All our customers currently paid up will be given loyalty points and account credits,” the Mayor said.

Council is also giving developers a temporary window to regularise unapproved building plans without penalties during the same period.

Evictions warning and system changes ahead

The City has issued a firm warning to lease holders who are behind on payments.

“Council will not hesitate to enforce the agreements including effecting evictions for non-compliant tenants,” Mayor Mafume said.

He also revealed that Harare will soon migrate to a new Enterprise Resource Planning system.

“Council will soon move over to billing on the new ERP (BIQ) with gradual migration of council operations from the current ERP,” he said.

Mayor Mafume called on residents to engage with Council as it works to rebuild services under the new national standards.

“Going forward, I encourage all residents and stakeholders alike to continuously engage and join hands with Council in shaping the Harare we all desire,” he said.