Shabanie Mine switched off over $4m debt

asbestos mine.
Shabanie Mine had planned to resume its operations on 9 January after going for a two-year shutdown.
The mine employees started reporting for duty about two weeks ago after the company ceased operations in 2010.
Officials at the giant asbestos mine confirmed that the power utility disconnected electricity at the mine on Thursday over a $4 million debt.
“This is a huge blow to the mine which was now preparing to resume operations. Indeed, we owe the power utility about $4 million in unpaid electricity bills but the mine has not been operational for some time now because it was now flooded.
“When the new investor, the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), recently advised the workers to report for duty, pumping water out of the tunnels was the major activity. This power disconnection has, however, reversed every effort made to clear the water underground to nothing,” said the official.
Shabanie Mine human resources manager Mr Ray Munangwa confirmed the disconnection of power at the mine but declined to comment further.
“The correct people to get in touch with over this issue are either the ZMDC officials or the Zesa guys themselves,” he said.
Contacted for comment, ZETDC southern region manager Engineer King Dube said he was not in office to verify the power disconnection at Shabanie Mine.
Eng Dube, however, said the fact that Shabanie Mine was not operational was not an excuse for the mine not to settle its electricity bills.
He said the mine risked having power disconnected for defaulting just like any other ZETDC clients.
“The only solution is for companies to pay up their electricity bills. The fact that the electricity bill for Shabanie Mine has been ballooning when the mine was said to be on shutdown means they have been consuming power and they should just come up with a payment plan.
“Electricity is in short supply and it then calls for companies and households to pay up their electricity bills so that we will be able to buy electricity for consumption by both companies and individuals at domestic level,” he said.
ZMDC chairman Mr Godwills Masimirembwa referred this reporter to the ZMDC general manager, a Mr Ndlovu, for comment.
Efforts to contact Mr Ndlovu were fruitless.
Shabanie and Mashaba Mines, which are now being run by the ZMDC, have not been operational since 2010 when the mines experienced operational challenges.
The workers who have been on unpaid leave since then only started reporting for duty about two weeks ago following an urgent notice to do so by the new investor.