No Zim load shedding during FIFA World Cup in
South Africa
SW Radio Africa
By Tichaona Sibanda
10 June 2010
Energy and Power Development Minister, Elias Mudzuri, has said the utility power supplier will suspend its regular programme of power cuts to enable football fans to enjoy uninterrupted coverage of the World Cup in South Africa.
Mudzuri told a news conference on Wednesday that the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) was working to ensure equitable distribution of the limited power available to consumers, to enable them to watch the World Cup.
He also said that ZESA would suspend disconnections to allow the public to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
This will be good news for the consumers who have failed to settle their bills and, according to ZESA, owe the utility more than $300 million.
Mudzuri added that disconnections and load-shedding would return after the month-long football tournament. Meanwhile Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday called upon the unity government to invest in sport through financial and material support.
Tsvangirai, a keen sportsman who rarely misses a round of golf each weekend, said he was committed to ensuring that government lives up to its responsibility to invest in the sporting future of all Zimbabweans.
Writing in his weekly column in The Prime Minister’s newsletter, Tsvangirai said over the past decade, Zimbabweans have been denied the exposure, excitement and national unifying effects of international sporting events.
Zimbabwe has a great sporting tradition and has produced many world recognised sports names and personalities. Football is the national passion in the nation while cricket and athletics are also very popular. But most sports associations have failed to attract sponsorship owing to the country’s economic and political situation.
The Prime Minister, who flies to South Africa on Friday for the opening ceremony of the World Cup, said it was heartening the country was once again taking its rightful place on the international stage.
He pointed at the visit last week of five times world champions Brazil, who almost brought the country to a standstill when they were in Harare.
The Samba boys played a friendly international with the Zimbabwe warriors, winning 3-0 at a game watched by Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
Last month, long distance runner Stephen Muzhingi won his second Comrades marathon in a row, a feat recognised by Tsvangirai when he extended an invitation to the runner for a ‘cup of tea’ when he gets back to Harare.
‘The pinnacle of success in this area (financial and material support) would be seeing our national team qualifying for the next FIFA World Cup,’ Tsvangirai wrote.