Massive power outage hits Bulawayo
By Tichaona Sibanda
26 November 2012
One of the worst blackouts to hit Bulawayo this year left most of the city
without power for more than 20 hours from Sunday evening to Monday
afternoon.
The Central Business District, as well as most the eastern and western
suburbs were all affected. It is unclear why the supply was so severely
interrupted but reports say torrential rains that fell in the city over the
weekend may have caused the blackout.
Our correspondent, Lionel Saungweme, told us the power cut happened at
around 6pm on Sunday and power was restored to some areas by 2pm on Monday.
Power cuts are now a common occurrence in Bulawayo because of a fundamental
shortage of power and an ageing grid. The chaos caused by such cuts has led
to protests against the power utility company, ZESA.
‘The blackouts are becoming more frequent typically because of government’s
lack of investment in the energy infrastructures, and which are also prone
to serious weather. This latest power cut completely shut down production at
companies and critical infrastructures such as telecommunication networks,
financial services, water supplies and hospitals,’ Saungweme said.
He said authorities were working to restore service to some areas that still
had no power, adding that there are fears the power blackouts will become
more frequent, owing to the lack of incentives to invest in national grid
infrastructure.
Saungweme said the widespread power outages seriously disrupted business and
industrial activities which adversely affected productivity.
He said, ‘It also caused disruptions and inconveniences to residents. In
addition, such failure to provide a reliable service clearly has negative
consequences for business confidence of both domestic and foreign investors,
which in turn impacts on the country’s economic growth targets.’
Patson Mbiriri, the secretary for energy and power development, told an
annual congress of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries in July this
year that energy-starved Zimbabwe will suffer longer and more frequent power
shortages for the next 10 years.
Zimbabwe needs about 2 200MW of electricity at peak consumption, but
generates just below 1 300MW while relying on imports to fill the gap.
Mbiriri said the country will only be able to generate enough power for
domestic and industrial power by 2022.