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Sifelani Tsiko
Agric, Environment & Innovations Editor
In recent years, the escalating crisis of cable theft and vandalism of energy infrastructure in Zimbabwe has threatened the security and stability of the country’s electricity supply and undermined Government efforts to create a thriving, inclusive, and resilient economy.
Vandalism in the energy and power sector has not only led to significant economic losses but also disruption of essential services and an increase in the risks to public safety.
The country’s major utilities — Zesa, National Railways of Zimbabwe and other telecommunications companies — have lost infrastructure running into millions of dollars due vandalism.
Theft of equipment and vandalism is reportedly costing ZESA more than US$2 million a year.
This has seen property such as copper cables, wagon components, ballast (quarry stone used to stabilise rail), steel sleepers and transformer components being stolen.
Last year alone ZETDC recorded 1 569 cases of vandalism and theft, out of which 172 arrests were made and 33 cases were convicted.
In July 2023, ZESA lost more than US$11 million in over 3 000 cases of vandalism and theft that occurred in a period of only two and a half years.
Critical energy infrastructure forms the backbone of our daily lives, impacting health, safety, security and economic prosperity.
Any disruption or destruction of the country’s energy infrastructure has grave consequences and all this calls for strategies from all stakeholders to safeguard these vital assets.
It is heartening to see the University of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) partnering and taking practical steps to find a lasting solution to the growing problem of vandalism within the energy sector.
Closer collaboration between Government, academia and scientific institutions as well as industry is important for the safeguarding of the country’s vital energy and power infrastructure.
Technological innovations play an important role in the fight against theft and vandalism of critical energy infrastructure.
UZ and ZETDC must be commended for opening up a window of opportunity for local scientists and engineers to explore technology driven solutions that can help mitigate the risk of theft and vandalism and enhance loss control mechanisms for ZETDC.
The collaboration is yielding positive results. Recently, five University of Zimbabwe researchers won awards for coming up with new technological innovations with a potential to curb vandalism and theft of critical infrastructure for the country’s power utility, Zesa.
Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister, Professor Amon Murwira honoured the prolific scientists behind some of the outstanding research with a huge potential to save infrastructure worth millions of dollars controlled by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC).
Veteran researcher, UZ Prof Jephat Chifamba, and Primrose Mlambo won the first prize and a floating trophy for developing forensic security markings for easy identification of the ZETDC assets, while Malvin Mahati and Prideson Chisadza came second for their electricity transformer anti-theft system device they created.
Eng Peacewell Siabwanda won the third prize for developing a Smart Microcontroller-based Substation Monitoring and Protection System.
The researchers were honoured at the UZ Innovation Hub.
ZETDC has pledged to fund the new innovations so that the new technologies are quickly deployed to curb the problem of theft and vandalism.
All this highlights the relevance of research innovations in the fight against theft and vandalism of vital national infrastructure.
The efforts by UZ and ZETDC provide practical insights on how technological innovations can help reduce vandalism apart from other deterrent robust legal and operational frameworks.
“The role of higher education to implement effective strategies to safeguard our energy infrastructure and ensure a stable and secure energy future for Zimbabwe cannot be overstated,” said Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister, Professor Amon Murwira.
“Our universities and research institutions are breeding grounds for innovative solutions. Through advanced research and development, we can devise cutting-edge technologies and strategies to detect, prevent, and respond to acts of vandalism.”
Apart from technology innovations, it is also important for ZETDC and other stakeholders to prioritise and implement robust, targeted strategies to combat criminal activities related to theft and vandalism of energy infrastructure.
This must include improved policing, intelligence – driven operations and stricter penalties for those found guilty of such offenses.
Cable theft and infrastructure vandalism are also a direct attack on the welfare of Zimbabwean citizens.
It has far-reaching implications that range from prolonged power outages and damaged infrastructure to the loss of jobs and slowed economic growth.
Cable theft and infrastructure vandalism must not be taken lightly.
As a country we need to take a proactive stance to fight vandalism of energy infrastructure.
There must be a concerted effort to curb all these criminal activities for the country to realise its national strategic vision to become an upper middle income economy by 2030.
The UZ and ZETDC must be commended for supporting a number of research activities which are looking at various strategies to tackle theft and vandalism of energy and power infrastructure.
Research activities are now looking at various innovative solutions that include investigating the motivation behind vandalism, developing tamper — resistant cables and materials, remote monitoring systems, the use of drones and others.
With proper research and support, our scientists and engineers can help Zimbabwe fight against cable theft and infrastructure vandalism.
The fight against theft and vandalism of infrastructure is everyone’s responsibility.
It is only through our collective efforts — scientists, engineers, ZETDC, industry, law enforcement and the general public that we can bring an end to this scourge and secure a reliable, sustainable energy future for generations to come.
Without a shared vision and a collective effort, the power distributor will continue to incur heavy financial losses leaving the nation reeling from power blackouts and insecure energy supplies.
Vandalism and sabotage of utilities must be tamed. Bad actors must pay a heavy price.
Let’s act to protect our power!
Online Reporter