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Nqobile Tshili Features Correspondent
MARSHAL Mutasa, 24, a staunch Liverpool Football Club fan, rarely misses his team’s live matches on satellite television. The man from Cowdray Park suburb in Bulawayo is so emotionally attached to his team that he at times risks his life travelling to the city centre at night to watch his favourite soccer club playing. However, Mutasa has a seemingly formidable enemy threatening his favourite pastime: the excessive power cuts by power utility, Zesa.
Zesa has brought misery to many people, especially soccer fans. Many like Mutasa are failing to watch the beautiful game in the comfort of their homes save for those with solar panels or generators. “I’m forced to be in a bar where I’m guaranteed that there will be power to enable me to watch soccer. This, however, doesn’t come cheap. Some bars are taking advantage of the situation as they’ve introduced a $2 entrance fee even in the afternoon, something that never used to happen,” said Mutasa.
Mutasa’s love for soccer has seen him sometimes staying in bars late at night whenever his favourite team is playing.
This has caused problems with his family members.
“Cowdray Park is a crime infested suburb. I’m a university student who should be studying. But my love for the game is causing tension at home because I sometimes defy my parents and come home late at night. This is especially so when my team will be having a late game. I sometimes get home around 1AM. The streets will be dark and I’ll be exposing myself to muggers,” he said.
Due to the persistent power cuts, Zesa has become “public enemy number one”. Residents and industry do not understand the rationale behind the tight load shedding schedule.
Mutasa said it was a waste of money to subscribe to DSTV as viewers rarely watch their favourite programmes. He said whenever there will be power, most people will be asleep.
Instead of moaning Zesa’s misfortunes, residents have, instead, come up with all sorts of sour jokes ridiculing the power utility. Some of them have used the Zesa logo to create pranks making fun of the power institution.
Interestingly, the pranks are educative as they inform citizens of other energy sources that can be used.
“Do you know that you can buy your own solar system wekele ukukhathazana lathi,” read one of the many prank messages.
There are indeed many forms of energy that residents and industry can utilise besides the hydro-powered electricity.
While social life has been disturbed, the economic impact of the enhanced power outages cannot be ignored.
“Workers are losing jobs because of the enhanced load shedding programme. This has dealt a blow to millions of citizens in the country as industry is retrenching. Production has been negatively affected. It’s time we came up with alternative sources of energy to sustain our households and the few companies that are still operational. We need to start thinking outside the box,” said an economic commentator, Gerald Banda.
Banda said production at some companies was depressed by 20 percent following the introduction of the enhanced load shedding regime. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries recently bemoaned the increase in power cuts, saying it was affecting production levels.
The National Bakers’ Association of Zimbabwe says the cost of producing bread and other confectioneries has gone up by 30 percent following the introduction of an enhanced power cut regime being implemented across the country. Players in the sector have resorted to the use of diesel-powered generators to sustain production.
Mining has equally been affected.
Zesa holdings recently cut off power to Sable Chemicals, the sole Ammonium Nitrate producing company in the country. The decision put the jobs of 500 people on the line.
Zesa’s failure to generate enough power for the country is threatening the government economic blueprint, Zim-Asset.
Zim-Asset seeks to enhance value addition and beneficiation in the production chain. It also aims at creating employment for millions of Zimbabweans.
Environmentalists say there is increased deforestation ever since the power utility introduced an enhanced load shedding programme.
The Forestry Commission chief conservator for Bulawayo and Matabeleland North provinces, Armstrong Tembo, said the two provinces are losing many trees to wood poachers.
“We’ve witnessed an increase in firewood poaching of late. Firewood poaching is now even worse because we used to have people cutting dry wood but now they are even cutting green trees,” said Tembo.
He urged firewood poachers to seek alternative energy sources from saw millers who sell firewood.
Firewood has a risk factor attached to it when used carelessly in homes. Some properties have been razed by fire owing to the reckless use of firewood. Residents are losing a lot of property through fires that are lit following power cuts.
The Bulawayo Fire Department says the city recorded an increase in home fires following the introduction of the enhanced load shedding programme.
City Chief Fire Officer, Richard Peterson, said the city was recording about five fire incidents a week ever since the intensified load-shedding regime came to the fore.
He said in the past, the city would record between zero and two fire incidents per week.
Peterson attributed the high fire incidents to lack of knowledge in the usage of alternative power sources.
“Most fires have been caused by people pursuing alternative energy sources to light up their premises as well as for cooking purposes. The fires we’ve attended to have been caused by matches, primus and gas stoves.
“I believe these fires are a result of load shedding. If it wasn’t for the electricity load shedding we wouldn’t be having so many people using matches, primus and gas stoves,” said Peterson.
Residents are not happy with Zesa’s long load shedding hours. They say they are paying for a service they are not getting.
Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association BPRA communication officer, Zibusiso Dube, said Zesa is robbing customers of their hard-earned cash. “Some people aren’t using cash power electricity. It’s a big problem especially for those paying for fixed power. They would be paying for electricity that they don’t use. The whole system has been thrown into disarray. Residents are being fleeced of their hard-earned cash,” he said.
National University of Science and Technology Journalism and Media Studies student Ruth Ngwenya, who is in her fourth year, said load shedding is affecting their studies.
Ngwenya said due to power cuts, meeting university deadlines has become increasingly difficult of late.
“The only solution is for us to do our work at the university’s campus library. We’re forced to knock off at night. This, however, exposes us to muggers and robbers. Just last week one of my colleagues was mugged. She lost her laptop and cellphone,” she said.
To reduce power consumption, the government plans to ban the use of electric geysers and introduce locally manufactured solar-powered ones starting January next year.
Announcing the power saving measure, the Minister of Energy and Power Development Samuel Undenge said the ban on electric geysers will see the country saving up to 300 megawatts of power.
The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, Patson Mbiriri, said the country will take a collective effort to restore normalcy in power generation.
Mbiriri said for the country to efficiently deal with power problems, corroboration among power sources should be utilised. “We need solar, we need gas in particular Lupane coal bed methane gas to power some of our electrical gadgets. We need wind. Basically we need an energy mix so that when one source of energy fails the other can supplement it. This will keep the country going,” he said.
While the country is wrestling with power shortages, alternative power dealers are recording brisk business. Solar-powered lamps are being sold at leading shops and by vendors.
Online Reporter