Power outages to increase after South Africa and Zambia cut power supplies

By Henry Makiwa
6 December 2007

More power outages are expected after South Africa and Zambia announced that they would be cutting power supplies to Zimbabwe.

The situation will leave only Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the main suppliers of power to Zimbabwe, according to a report presented to parliament last week.
It has been established that Robert Mugabe’s cash-strapped regime has a combined outstanding debt of US$42 million to Zambia and South Africa. Observers say the withdrawal of these two countries will grind industry to a halt and cause massive job losses.

Pearson Mangofa, a legislator from the MDC and a member of the Mines and Energy Parliamentary portfolio committee, confirmed that Zambia and South Africa would be cutting power to Zimbabwe. He accused Mugabe of neglecting the country’s power woes, saying much could be done to avert the crisis.
He said: "It is estimated that businesses are operating at less than 30 percent of capacity. Mines are operational for only four hours out of the 24-hour schedule. Our communication networks have also been experiencing continued congestion, due to power. Things are bound to get worse.”