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Harare Bureau
ZESA Holdings is in the eye of a storm for intensifying load shedding countrywide soon after the announcement of the results of the just-ended national elections early this month with some consumers linking the surge to political sabotage.Many areas that had not been under load shedding since the beginning of this year suddenly found themselves under massive load shedding following President Mugabe and Zanu-PF’s landslide victory.
Although Zesa said there was no link between the power situation and the elections, Zimbabweans countrywide said the fact that load shedding intensified just after the polls raises a lot of questions.
Zesa Holdings yesterday attributed the power cuts to a “fragile” generation at Hwange Power Station.
In Harare, for example, areas to the eastern part of the city such as Breaside, Cranborne, Arcadia and Queensdale had been experiencing insignificant power cuts, but the situation has changed with the residents now sometimes spending 24 hours without power.
The situation is the same in the city’s high density suburbs where residents are now seeking alternative power. In northern parts of the city, power cuts have also been intensified with residents going for hours without electricity.
Other cities and towns like Bulawayo, Gweru, Masvingo, Chinhoyi and Chitungwiza are not spared.
People from various parts of the country have been seeking explanations on why the power situation in the country had suddenly worsened.
Mr Benjamin Mugombi of Chitungwiza said Zesa’s disruption of electricity supplies smacks of ulterior motives as it started soon after the elections.
“The power cuts in the past few days are disappointing and one wonders why this is coming immediately after the elections. From the look of things it shows that someone somewhere is playing cheap politics because to us nothing has changed to warrant such massive load shedding,” said Mr Mugombi.
Another Harare resident, Mr Tinashe Tiki accused Zesa officials of deliberately switching off electricity in a futile attempt to discredit the incoming Zanu-PF Government, which is yet to assume duty.
“A deep analysis on the situation can tell you that there are dirty hands in the whole saga,” said Mr Tiki. “How come the surge in the power cuts is coming after the election victory. It means someone is trying to discredit the new Government but we all know that those people have not started work.”
However, Zesa Holdings spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said Zimbabwe Power Company lost four units in the past two weeks reducing power output from 700MW to 200MW.
He said to ensure the smooth running of the elections, Zesa Holdings requested additional electricity support from the Southern Power Pool (SPP) while other utilities deferred their own maintenance to accommodate Zimbabwe’s position.
“The four units have since been restored to service generating a combined total of 530MW at Hwange Power Station, instead of the average 700MW,” he said.
“The support from SSP cannot be sustained in the long term due to power shortages in their own countries. After the elections, imports were reduced because sister utilities needed to undertake maintenance that had been deferred.”
The power situation, Mr Gwasira said, was also being worsened by the depressed imports due to maintenance at Hydro Cahorra Bassa, which was expected to be completed yesterday.
He added that the country had been experiencing a power supply deficit of 400MW at any given period since 2007 due to obsolete equipment.
“This position will prevail until Zesa, or some independent power producer introduces additional capacity through a new power station,” Mr Gwasira said.
Online Reporter