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Blackouts hit Zimbabwe
10/10/2006 15:04 - (SA)
Harare - Power-starved Zimbabwe was hit by blackouts on Tuesday after a major breakdown at a key station and cable theft on a line bringing electricity from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
James Maridadi of the state-run Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) had to resort to "massive load-shedding on a rotation basis" after all six generators at the Hwange power depot broke down on Saturday.
Maridadi added that rampant theft of power lines bringing in electricity from the DRC had exacerbated the problem, leading to power cuts of up to 10 hours a day.
Maridadi said ZESA engineers were working round the clock to restore supplies from Hwange.
Imports 'expected to stop in 2007'
Zimbabwe imported 40% of its power needs: 100 megawatts a month from the DRC, 200 megawatts from Mozambique and up to 450 and 300 megawatts from South Africa and Zambia respectively.
Imports were expected to stop in 2007 due to an anticipated power deficit across southern Africa resulting from increased demand.
In December last year, the populous township of Chitungwiza, south-east of Harare, was plunged in darkness for two weeks due to technical problems at a local power station.
Zimbabwe's once-model economy had been on a downturn for the past five years, characterised by galloping inflation and shortages of foreign currency and basic commodities.
Families in the cities were turning to firewood for cooking and heating because of power outages.
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