ENERGY and Power Development deputy minister Magna Mudyiwa says consumers are also to blame for the electricity crisis by not paying their bills as she ruled out a quick fix to the rolling power cuts.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Mudyiwa said Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa)’s ability to generate enough power to meet demand was crippled by various challenges including a $40 billion outstanding bill owed by consumers.
“It is a company that is supposed to run on its own just like any other company, it is supposed to buy equipment and vehicles which are used when attending to faults,” Mudyiwa said.
“They are supposed to procure fuel and are not getting foreign currency because many people are paying in local currency. Zesa is supposed to pay its workers.
“You might have heard that there is a lot of brain drain that took place at Zesa and a lot of professionals left this country and went as far as UK and Australia and Zesa is supposed to pay its workers adequately — all that is not happening because Zesa is owed a lot of money by consumers.”
Zimbabwe is facing a crippling electricity shortage, with consumers enduring 22-hour power outages per day.
The crisis deepened recently after the Zambezi River Authority ordered the Zimbabwe Power Company to slash generation capacity at the Kariba South Power Station to 300megawatts from 600MW due to low water levels.
The coal-fired Hwange Power Station with an installed capacity of 920MW is generating less than half its capacity to constant breakdowns and obsolete equipment.
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“All these units that we are using at Hwange need revamping, they are very old and need rehabilitation but there is no money because Zesa is owed more than $40 billion,” Mudyiwa said.
“With regards to loadshedding and faults, we do not have funds to rehabilitate. Some of the faults are caused by vandalism of transformers and cables; usually it is Zesa that traces these problems. Zesa is facing challenges in replacing cables and transformers that are being vandalised.”
The deputy minister ruled out a quick fix to the energy crisis saying loadshedding was likely to continue until water levels at Kariba Dam have improved.
“In addition to that, we are encouraging those who had started renewable energy projects like the solar energy projects, to speed up construction of those power stations so that we increase power generation. That is another way we are trying to mitigate the situation,” she said.
“We are encouraging the nation to accept this as a problem that we are all facing. So we urge all the citizens to use power sparingly so that we may be able to get electricity. Loadshedding will continue until we get improved supplies. At the moment, demand outweighs supply.”
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