Eskom problems wo’nt affect Zimbabwe: ZESA
THE Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) has assured its clients that the power generation challenges being experienced by its South African supplier, Eskom would not spill over into Zimbabwe because the power utility had enough electricity to meet local demand.
Eskom announced this week that it was embarking on a load-shedding programme to its local and regional consumers. Zesa and Eskom have a long-standing power sharing agreement, whereby the former imports to augment local supplies.
Zesa spokesperson, Fullard Gwasira yesterday allayed fears that the country would experience increased load-shedding following problems at Eskom.
He said currently, the average maximum daily power demand was ranging between 1 400 and 1 700 megawatts.
Local captains of industry had panicked over developments in South Africa and sought guarantees from Zesa that their businesses would not be affected.
“This is indeed a sad story. Industry in Zimbabwe is already suffering from things like lack of foreign currency, poor water supply and many other utilities. The problem is simply because our government has not invested enough in the generation of our power needs,” Association for Business in Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Victor Nyoni said.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president, Sifelani Jabangwe said with the coming in of the Kariba South Extension, the disaster could be minimal.