Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter
RESIDENTS in Kingsdale suburb, Bulawayo contributed money to buy over 3KMs of cables after they went without electricity from September last year.
Thieves have been wreaking havoc in the country, targeting Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company (ZETDC) copper cables and transformers, plunging suburbs in darkness for days or months on end.
Residents in Kingsdale from about 50 households contributed an average of US$50 with some as much as US$150, towards the purchase of aluminium cables.
This was after a cable theft in the area last year in September.
Last week, the residents discovered copper cables stashed in a bush reportedly after thieves cut another section off, plunging their neighbourhood into darkness.
The cables were stashed in a bush along Orange Grove Avenue and were discovered by an alert resident.
It seems the cables were too heavy to carry and were stashed by thieves who have been raising hell in Kingsdale and other parts of Bulawayo and Zimbabwe.
A Chronicle news crew yesterday observed workers connecting cables onto poles that run through households.
One resident there who identified himself only as Ncube said since September they had no electricity.
“We have had no electricity since September and we are surprised that the Zesa people are working on putting up the cables.
We had thought that this will never happen,” said Mr Ncube.
Other residents said since the theft of the cables they had been contributing money to buy cables.
“We came together as a community so that we can try to buy cables for our households.
We contributed US$37.
We are about 55 and it was only for the main line that connects 747, Orange Grove and Humphreys Roads.
Some were connected but what criteria they were using we aren’t sure about.
Thereafter we were told to contribute US$25 so that they can get more cables. Others went an extra mile and donated US$150,” said a resident who preferred not to be named.
According to the resident, after the theft, ZETDC employees removed more cables.
“The cables that were stolen were not that much, but Zesa came and took out all the copper cables in our area.
What we were buying is what Zesa took from Orange Grove Road and Humphreys Road.
All along we were trying to engage them and we were being told there were no cables to replace,” said the resident.
In compensation, the resident said they were told that they would get electricity as payment for helping ZETDC buy the cables.
“If you have donated perhaps US$100, you will get electricity worth something like US$80.
We haven’t received the electricity because they are putting the cables up.
They had said we shall be connected and have electricity by today,” said the resident.
This area has some plots and some households have market gardens that are watered by boreholes.
“Our food such as meat had gone bad and we were no longer having it as part of the diet.
Even asking neighbours for them to keep our meat, was no longer a good thing.
We had looked at other sources of heating, like knowing that you can iron your clothes using gas.
But gas is expensive.
“Many of us are farmers, and our boreholes weren’t working and it affected our business.
We lost business.
We supplied the local market with chomolia and stuff,” said the resident.
Another resident, Mrs Christine Moyo said they were worried that people were not being arrested for stealing copper cables.”
“More copper cables were stolen and these were found in a field in Orange Grove.
We are wondering who is stealing the cables.
We cannot always blame innocent people and now we find them stashed in a field, you never know what the motive is,” said Mrs Moyo.
Residents in Bulawayo’s eastern suburbs have resorted to hiring security guards to patrol at night in a bid to stop electricity cable theft.
In suburbs such as Kingsdale, Famona, Hillcrest and Hillside, residents have been living in the dark following the theft of cables.
It seems the situation is continuing unabated and kilometres of cables are being stolen every week.
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