Staff Reporter
Harare residents are openly questioning the effectiveness of Mayor Jacob Mafume, with calls intensifying for his resignation due to perceived failures in improving the City’s service delivery.
Over the past weekend, the discontent spilt over onto various social media platforms, with residents expressing their frustrations and doubts about the leadership of the opposition-led City council.
One vocal critic, a netizen known as @matigary, was particularly blunt in his assessment of Mayor Mafume’s performance.
“The Harare City Council must be removed and the mayor fired. There is an average of half a million people daily in Harare CBD, but there is only one public toilet provided by the City of Harare. How does Mafume live with this damning situation and serve two terms as mayor?”
Another concerned citizen, Monica Svugu, echoed the sentiment, criticising the council's understanding of urban management.
She called for a more drastic solution to address the City’s governance issues.
" The Harare City Council leadership should be dissolved, and the Government should put up a commission that will run the affairs of the City until the next elections,” said Svugu.
Adding to the chorus of disapproval, Granite Gumede suggested that the City’s leadership needed a complete overhaul, favouring a different political alignment.
"Harare needs a ZANU PF mayor to prosper because the councillors from the opposition are a joke. They are only at Town House to line their pockets,” said Gumede.
A recent tour by this publication in the Harare Central Business District revealed troubling signs of mismanagement.
Raw sewage was observed flowing freely in some areas, and several pits that were reportedly dug nearly three months ago to fix burst water pipes remained unattended to, exacerbating the public's frustration with the current City administration.
The growing outcry among Harare residents highlights a deep-seated dissatisfaction with the current leadership, amplifying calls for significant changes to ensure the City meets the needs of its populace.
