BULAWAYO – The owner of the parking management company in Bulawayo which claims 70 percent of revenues turned up for meetings at City Hall in a US$400,000 Rolls Royce Cullinan, ZimLive can reveal.
The expensive motor, which appears to have been recently imported, bore a personalised United Kingdom licence plate, LC, thought to belong to the previous owner.
Lizwe Mabuza, the chairman of Tendy Tree Investments (TTI), is racking in the cash after securing a favourable deal with the city to collect parking fees for 70 percent of the revenue, while the city gets 30 percent.
Bulawayo residents have been clamouring for the cancellation of the contract which is initially for six years from January 2022 to December 2027, with an option to extend for a further four years. The contract was awarded in 2020 but took two years to implement.
Council officials who spoke to ZimLive told of their shock at Mabuza’s “tone-deaf” display of opulence during his visit to City Hall on Thursday last week, as calls for a review of the contract grow.
“It’s us as councillors who’re keeping the mob at bay, for now. It’s a fact that TTI is the most unpopular company in this city and to have this obscene display of wealth at City Hall by one of the company’s directors is adding fuel to a raging fire,” one councillor said, asking not to be named.
Council officials speak in hushed tones about TTI, some warning that the company has deeply embedded itself, with senior figures at City Hall allegedly doing its bidding.
TTI initially set charges for 30-minute parking in the CBD at US$1, triggering an outcry from residents. The charges were reduced and now US$1 covers an hour.
The company’s employees are accused of mistreating senior citizens and employing uncouth vehicle clamping tactics in order to meet targets.
In August, the City of Bulawayo revealed that TTI had remitted just over US$1.5 million as its share in parking, clamping and storage fees collected between January 1, 2024, and May 31. TTI’s cut would be over two times the amount given to the council.
Bulawayo mayor David Coltart ran for office vowing to relook at the TTI contract, but he has since cooled.
