A day in the life of a Bulawayo City Councillor
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Representatives, Bruce Mtengwa, the Trust’s Bulawayo PDO, and Field Correspondent, Lewis Jones, found the middle aged mother of six, and one of the City’s few female Councillors, at her desk busy attending to an elderly woman in need. It was barely 9 o’clock, yet the office was already filling with people with various needs that they hoped would receive her attention. As is the case of most of the City’s 29 Councillors in their own Wards, the Municipality offered Thembile Khoza an office at one of its various properties in her Ward.
The Councillor explained that on a normal day, she received an average of fifty people, most of whom would be seeking assistance in varying forms, ranging from domestic issues to matters concerning civic requirements or procedure. She said that in order to cope with the constant requests for help, it became necessary for her to cultivate a network comprising individuals, charitable organisations and businesses, from which she occasionally received donations in cash or kind.
Cllr. Khoza mentioned that she did not hesitate to provide the appropriate interventions concerning domestic matters, whenever invited to do so. It was really touching to discover that the Councillor is never reluctant to share, with the needy, the meagre resources that she is able to rustle up.
The activity and compassionate interventions witnessed by the Team, is by no means confined to Cllr. Khoza alone. Indeed such scenarios are replicated in the offices of almost every other Councillor. It is a dispensation which arises from the fact that Bulawayo’s Councillors are renowned for their commitment to the welfare of their communities.
ZDDT takes pride in the excellent relations it enjoys with all Councillors in the City. Utilising various initiatives, the Trust has been able to work closely with these vital grass-root leaders together with the Local Authority, in the on-going quest to restore local communities through enhanced service delivery.