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AT least 209 people were electrocuted in 400 electricity-related accidents in the past seven years, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) has said.
An additional 179 non-fatal accidents were also recorded.
The main causes of incidents were unsafe handling of electricity by members of the public, collapsed infrastructure, vandalism and inadequate workmanship.
Addressing a stakeholders’ meeting in Harare, a ZERA official, Man’arai Ndovori, said the cases were probably higher as some fatal accidents involving electricity are not reported.
“Some of the fatalities were cable thieves, who accounted for 54 percent of all deaths related to electricity.
“Note that these are only statistics that we have of reported accidents.
“There are several other incidents that occur in our communities which don’t get to us.
“Theft and vandalism of energy infrastructure, mainly of transformers and power cables, accounted for 12 percent of electricity-related accidents.
“We have seen a lot of transformers being vandalised and the draining of transformer oil.
“Most of these vandals have no knowledge of how electricity is transmitted or distributed resulting in them being electrocuted.”
Online Reporter