Mnangagwa's govt concedes power cuts causing distress

GOVERNMENT has admitted that the prevailing electricity blackouts are causing distress to citizens and business as Zimbabwe is currently experiencing uninterrupted 18 hours or more of load shedding.

In most parts of  the country electricity is switched off at 4 am up until midnight.

Posting on his Twitter account Tuesday, information ministry permanent secretary, Nick Mangwana said government was looking at measures to bring normalcy before he thanked citizens for being patient.

"The power cuts are causing distress, inconveniences and cost to the citizenry and business. This is regrettable. The challenge is affecting part of our region.

"Government is seized with implementing immediate mitigatory measures to bring normalcy. We thank you for your patience," Mangwana said.

The power situation recently deteriorated dramatically after the Zambezi River Authority ordered ZESA to shut down Kariba South Hydro-Power Station, the country's biggest power supply, until January as it had exceeded its water ration for the year.

Last week energy minister Soda Zhemu said Kariba will not be shut down completely, rather it will continue to generate at a reduced capacity of up to 300 megwatts daily, which is not enough for the nation's daily demand which is above 1600 megawatts.

This leaves the country reliant on Hwange Thermal Power Station, which  has become notoriously unreliable as it is now old.

Hwange is the country's largest coal-fired power station, with 920MW installed capacity and it now produces less than half its capacity.