Alert - Pumula South, Emganwini residents call for electricity

BULAWAYO residents have expressed concerns that Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) is failing to supply some residential areas with electricity, many years after their houses were built. There are many suburbs in Bulawayo that have spent  many years without electricity. Pumula South (Phase 2) residents complained that they have spent more than eight years without electricity. The residents revealed that they had even paid some money towards erection of poles for electricity cables more than three years ago, but to date no action has been taken by the power utility company to avail them with power. The residents also reported that last year ZESA employees came and collected transformers in their area and connected them to another Pumula South section that now has electricity. Residents said this was raising suspicions of corruption in the operations of ZESA as it seems to be giving preference to other residents. The residents expressed concerns that unavailability of electricity had led to many accidents in the area with people losing property to fires caused by candles and paraffin stoves.

In Emganwini, residents resettled under the Millennium Housing Scheme have faced similar challenges to those faced by Pumula South residents. The residents have spent eight years without electricity. The residents told Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) that they are spending as much as three dollars per day on firewood, or opt to look for firewood at the nearby bushes, which is illegal and warrants a fine from local authority employees. The residents also said young girls were exposed to sexual abuse in the bushes while looking for firewood.

BPRA therefore calls upon ZESA to make an effort to ensure that all residential areas that do not have access to electricity are connected. The ZESA authorities have to make sure that they distribute the available electricity in the country fairly among residents as electricity is a necessity for all in a modern society.

Regards

Information Department

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association

Bus. Tel: +263 9 61196

Cell: +263 772 516 729