Nine cattle have been killed after coming into contact with a live electricity wire near Shangani Mine in Insiza district, leaving several farmers counting heavy losses and raising concerns over repeated safety failures by the power utility.
The incident occurred between Tuesday and Wednesday, 6 January 2026, after cattle that had gone missing were later found dead beneath an overhead electricity line.
One of the affected farmers, Gumai Matola from eNsango Village 1 in Insiza Ward 22, said the animals disappeared on Tuesday and could not be located despite extensive searches by villagers.
“On Tuesday we were looking for our cattle but we failed to find them. Even on Wednesday we searched until sunset without success,” he said.
The discovery was made late on Wednesday afternoon by a villager returning from work.
“Around 4pm, a person coming from work saw cattle lying dead under an electricity wire. That is when the alarm was raised,” Matola said.
Village elders were alerted and immediately contacted livestock owners and local authorities in an effort to prevent further losses.
“We agreed to go to the scene the following morning because it was already late. We asked one of the elders to go to Shangani Mine to request that the electricity be switched off to avoid another tragedy,” Matola said.
He said officials from the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) in Gweru were contacted and advised villagers to report the matter to the police, promising to attend the scene the next morning.
When farmers arrived the following day, the scale of the losses became clear.
“We found nine cattle dead. Three were mine and all were pregnant cows. Two belonged to another farmer, also cows, with one pregnant. Two bulls belonged to another farmer and one heifer belonged to another farmer. One animal’s owner is still unknown,” Matola said.
Another affected farmer, Nevious Dube from Shangani Insango Village 1, said the incident was not an isolated case and blamed the placement of electricity infrastructure in grazing areas.
“These incidents have happened before in this area. ZESA should be aware of the poles they install and how they affect grazing cattle,” he said.
Dube also criticised the power utility’s compensation policy, saying it failed to reflect the real losses suffered by farmers.
“When this happens, ZESA only compensates for one beast, even if several cattle die. That is not fair to farmers who lose their entire herds,” he said.
This is a developing story, it will be updated when we get a response from ZESA.