There have been conflicting reports about electricity supply to Zimbabwe from the region, while massive cuts continue to affect businesses and daily life in the country. The state paper The Herald reported Tuesday that power to Zimbabwe from the Democratic Republic of Congo had been cut off because ZESA Holdings is failing to service a US$5 million debt with its DRC supplier. The report quotes an unnamed official at ZESA as saying: | “The DRC power utility has suspended its power exports to Zimbabwe, leading to the burdening of the already weak local power supply. Despite the imports, we had a deficit and now it's worse because of the debt.” |
“The DRC power utility has suspended its power exports to Zimbabwe, leading to the burdening of the already weak local power supply. Despite the imports, we had a deficit and now it's worse because of the debt.”
But on Tuesday there was also a Reuters news agency report which said the DRC had denied The Herald report. Reuters quoted energy minister Salomon Banamuhere as saying: "There was a problem with the line over the weekend. A cable fell. But we worked on it Saturday and Sunday," The Congolese minister also said the problem had been fixed on Sunday and there is now electricity going through.
While these conflicting reports circulate, power cuts continue to slow down business around the country, making simple daily routines impossible. Our Bulawayo contact Zenzele described the last two weeks of power cuts as the worst he has ever seen in his life. He said the central business district in Bulawayo was experiencing power cuts during the day without warning. Clients booked to use sound recording studios in their building had to be cancelled after travelling from other cities because there was no power for three quarters of the day on Monday. Students at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo took exams without power on Tuesday. This means computers were not operational, and it is not clear yet whether the exams went smoothly.
Zenzele said life in the high-density suburbs has become dangerous because the towers that light up the streets at night have no power. Thieves can attack with ease after dark. The power cuts also mean fuel stations shut down and ATMs are offline.
The Herald said: “Zesa has the capacity to generate all the country's electricity needs as well as export, but has been hamstrung by spate of operational problems, notably erratic coal supplies, vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure, as well as shortages of foreign currency.” But the paper did not mention massive corruption and mismanagement that has plagued all parastatals during the 27 years ZANU-PF has been running the country. As with many other issues that need to be dealt with in Zimbabwe, critics and the opposition insist what is needed is a solution to the national political and economic crisis. |