About 500 households have been plunged into darkness in Bulawayo’s leafy suburb of Hillside and surrounding areas, following the theft of an electric conductor Saturday evening, CITE has established.
A conductor is a material which allows electricity, heat or sound to flow through it.
Other affected suburbs include Burnside, Hillcrest, and Matsheumhlope among other areas.
Residents have since resorted to opening a WhatsApp group as part of efforts to find a solution collectively.
Speaking to CITE, one of the residents, David Mouat said residents were losing money in alternative sources of energy such as generators since the weekend blackout.
“I have 110 people talking to me right now about no power in their houses. We estimate 500 houses are off,” said Mouat.
“How much money are citizens wasting on generators and trees being chopped?”
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) Acting Western Region General Manager, Lloyd Jaji said they were working on replacing the conductor.
“The challenge is theft of copper conductor and we are looking for the conductor to replace it,” said Jaji.
He said the theft of conductors had become rampant across the country.
“People have to think about vandalism because that is the main problem; if people stop vandalising we won’t be having all these situations,” he said.
“I don’t know how it can be addressed, people are taking conductors; it’s not a natural thing. Whilst it is good to talk about this one because it has happened, I think it is also good that we conscientise people on this vandalism which is killing the country,” he said.
