ZESA has embarked on a blitz to switch off defaulting customers in Bulawayo.
INNOCENT NXUMALO OWN CORRESPONDENT
About 40 households in Nkulumane 12 high-density suburb have complained that their electricity was cut off by the power utility over non-payment of varying amounts since the blitz was launched last month.
A Nkulumane 12 resident and street vendor Sihle Sibanda (41) said she has had no electricity since last week Wednesday when Zesa cut her supply.
“I owe Zesa $476,02, but because business has been low on the streets as people don’t have any disposable income, I can’t afford to clear that debt,” she said.
All defaulters were issued with disconnection order documents which compelled them to pay their debts in full together with a security deposit and reconnection fee. The reconnection fee is $10.
Part of the disconnection order given to the affected residents reads: “Should full payment not be received seven days after disconnection, ZETDC (Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company) shall use any other means, including legal action to recover the debt.”
This has raised residents’ anxieties as they fear the power utility would attach their property in a bid to recover what it is owed. Another resident Nomathemba Ndlovu (28) said their situation had been further compounded by the fact that firewood was expensive as Bulawayo City Council rangers were pouncing on firewood vendors.
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“Council rangers are always on patrol at Rangemore plots where we normally get our firewood confiscating firewood and this has forced the price up,” she said. “Vendors say they risk arrest by dealing in this alternative energy.”
Sophie Maphosa (79), who lives alone, has gone for two years without electricity as she cannot afford it.
Maphosa said she survived on the benevolence of good Samaritans who fetch firewood for her.
“These Zesa people are heartless. Where will I get the money to pay for electricity? I survive on what well-wishers give me.
“My children have all passed away and I cannot fetch firewood for myself as my strength is failing,” she said.
Bulawayo Residents’ Association (Bura) chairperson Winnos Dube urged residents to approach his association with their grievances so it could engage Zesa on their behalf.
“Bura serves as a platform to address such issues,” he said. “I therefore challenge residents to come forward for us to help them.
“I also appeal to Zesa to interact more with residents instead of resorting to disconnecting power without analysing individual household cases.”
Zesa spokesperson Fullard Gwasira failed to respond to questions e-mailed to him on Tuesday by the time of going to print yesterday.
