adminThe scores of angry residents reportedly manhandled the crew and beat them up until they fled to the suburb’s police station for protection.
The crew then returned in the company of armed police officers and continued disconnecting power to the houses.
Speaking to Chronicle in separate interviews yesterday, the residents said it took more than an hour for the police to quell the situation.
They said the whole suburb has been plunged into darkness following the massive disconnection exercise.
The residents said chaos started when the Zesa crew had a misunderstanding with one of the families in the suburb.
“There was drama here my brother. Zesa sent five teams at about 10am on Saturday and they were busy disconnecting power from almost the entire suburb. One of its teams got into a house near the vegetable market and a misunderstanding ensued,” said Ms Siphiwe Dube.
“At that time the neighbours joined in the argument with some holding Zesa workers by the collar while others started assaulting them.
“There was noise all over as the fuming residents mobbed the Zesa crew in protest. Others threatened to overturn the Zesa vehicle and torch it. Seeing that they were in danger, the crew ran away with residents in hot pursuit until they sought refuge at the police station.”
The residents said they were shocked to see the crew coming back accompanied by riot police.
“The police officers started beating everyone they met on the streets in order to control the huge crowd. They said they did not want to see any group of people. The crew then continued with the disconnections,” said a woman who identified herself as Mrs Ngwenya.
The residents blasted the power utility for failing to provide adequate service and complained that the disconnections were not justified.
“This is not fair at all. Zesa is taking us for granted. How can we have the whole suburb disconnected?” fumed Mr Thembani Sibanda, another resident.
“Most people here owe above $1 000 and we do not understand how Zesa arrived at those figures. After all we are paying for the service that we do not enjoy.”
The residents accused Zesa of using estimated meter readings and complained that whenever they visited Zesa offices to inquire about their bills, they did not get satisfactory answers.
“Every time you visit their office you are told that the system is down. We are also not getting monthly statements to show how we use power.
“Those are false figures. It is strange when we receive such shocking bills given the load shedding madness,” said another resident who identified himself as Mr Chitsike.
The residents also alleged that Zesa officials were soliciting for bribes in order not to disconnect some households.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo said four people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Online Reporter