It's horrible, says Zimbabwean, as country hit by four days of blackouts

It's horrible, says Zimbabwean, as country hit by four days of blackouts

From The Cape Argus (SA), 18 July

By Thabo Mabaso

For the past four days, Zimbabwe has been hit by an electricity blackout
that has plunged the country into darkness and exacerbated the suffering of
people already reeling from an ever-deepening economic and political crisis.
A source from Zimbabwe, speaking to the Cape Argus on condition of
anonymity, said power availability had been very intermittent since the
weekend and was mostly accessible for periods of four hours in the evenings.
"It is difficult for the man in the street. We can't afford to run a
generator, but running one is quite useless anyway because there is no fuel
throughout the country," said the source, who feared identification could
result in retribution from Zimbabwe's feared security police. Critics of
President Robert Mugabe's government have reported routine assaults by
supporters of the ruling Zanu PF and members of the security services over
the last few years. The source said the current blackouts were the worst to
hit Zimbabwe in a long time. On previous occasions the outages would, for
instance, affect the country once a week. This time, the blackouts had
continued unabated for four consecutive days. "It is horrible. We can't
cook; there is no electricity, no gas. And when you get to work you can't do
anything, because there is no electricity," she said. "All we have been told
is that the power cuts are due to load-shedding to irrigate wheat." Kumbirai
Mafunda, the acting political editor of Zimbabwe's independently owned
Financial Gazette, said the electricity cuts had mainly affected high
density areas. He added that the cuts could be the result of a shortage of
coal to fire up the country's power utility company.

The lack of foreign currency reserves has also impacted on the importation
of spare parts and equipment to repair outdated machinery at the power
utility. Last week Zimbabwe announced that it would import coal from
Botswana. The Financial Gazette has speculated that the persistent power
outages could affect the irrigation of the country's much-needed wheat crop.
"The power cuts have forced families to use firewood to cook. The cost of
firewood is, however, beyond the means of most families. "The consequence of
these cuts to families has been devastating. What is worse is that there is
no indication of when the problem will be sorted or power restored," Mafunda
said. Meanwhile, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has cited
Zimbabwe as one of 28 countries in the world facing food shortages over the
coming year. In a statement yesterday, the FAO estimated that the production
of maize, a staple of many households, was expected to decline by 43% in
Zimbabwe. "Lower food production and rising domestic and regional prices are
expected to adversely affect the food security of more than 4 million
vulnerable people in Zimbabwe," the FAO said. Yesterday, the US also
announced that it would donate 47 400 tons of food aid to Zimbabwe. The US
government said its food aid efforts would feed about 1.4m people until the
next harvest, in early 2008.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Electricity rationed in Zimbabwe
    ... Rationing electricity on the pretext that priority has been given to wheat ... that does not provide the excuse to cut towns to 4 hours power supply per ... Electricity rationed in Zimbabwe ...
    (soc.culture.zimbabwe)
  • Make poverty history - or make dictators history?
    ... to rescue Africa from the debt trap. ... preparation for the summit on the issue of debt relief, ... The one country in Africa which has been conspicuously omitted from the ... Zimbabwe the unenviable reputation of having the fastest shrinking ...
    (soc.culture.zimbabwe)
  • Eating cake while a country dies
    ... Eating cake while a country dies by Barbara Simpson ... Leaders of 14 African countries, along with wives, ministers and various ... I'm told, in the last month in Zimbabwe, "conditions have gone from ... Independence as Zimbabwe in 1980, and Robert Mugabe as president, brought ...
    (soc.culture.zimbabwe)
  • Behind a facade of normality, Zimbabwe is visibly falling apart
    ... In a rare dispatch from Robert Mugabe's tightly controlled country, ... There may be no more trees by the time Mr Mugabe, ... Zimbabwe has not quite collapsed. ... economy has shrunk by 50% in the past six years - the fastest contraction ...
    (soc.culture.zimbabwe)
  • Re: Zimbabwe and Pan-African Liberation
    ... If you follow what Kwame Nkrumah did to Ghana, you'll see where mugabe ... power using the state's wealth as if it was their own. ... There is a dearth of first-hand information on Zimbabwe, ... land reforms that have boldly swept the country. ...
    (soc.culture.zimbabwe)