Residents from Njube, Luveve and Mabuthweni in Bulawayo are calling for the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) to exempt senior citizens from power disconnections for failure to pay outstanding rates. This comes as the parastatal has intensified disconnections, moving into the suburbs in the last fortnight. Already, hundreds of households across the city have been disconnected for debts ranging from US$200 to over US$1000. Residents reason that the elderly should be exempted from disconnections as they are already on retirement and therefore unable to earn salaries that can meet all obligations since pensions are currently very low, with some pensioners getting below US$50 a month. Meanwhile, residents say they are irked by the power disconnections as they show that ZESA is not concerned about the plight of the people, most of whom are unemployed or earn paltry salaries and hence cannot effort to pay ZESA. Residents also believe that the rates are exorbitant in light of the economic climate prevailing in the country.
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