via ZESA won’t survive: Mangoma | The Zimbabwean by Farai Mabeza
ZESA Holdings will collapse if Zanu (PF) cancels debts owed by its clients, according to the outgoing Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma.
Mangoma told The Zimbabwean that the calls did not make business sense.
Vice President Joice Mujuru recently announced that her party would scrap electricity bills that have accumulated since the hyper-inflationary era.
“Unless ZESA gets paid for services rendered, it will collapse,” Mangoma said.
He added that ZESA’s current tariff levels were not profitable.
“Right now they are running a breakeven tariff regime. If these plans are carried out, the reliability of electricity supply will go away,” he said.
While in office, Mangoma pushed for the introduction of prepaid meters, mainly to benefit the poor.
“The accrued debts were factored into that system. If there are any disruptions to electricity supply, it is the poor in high density areas who will suffer. It costs more to buy firewood than electricity,” he said.
Mangoma said the cancellation of debts was designed to benefit the rich and powerful.
“We want to know who is going to benefit, the ordinary person in the high density areas or the big guys who want their debts written off,” he said.
Over 280,000 prepaid meters were installed countrywide. According to Mangoma, ZESA is currently owed in excess of $600 million.
Harare recently complied with Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo’s directive to write off outstanding debts of ratepayers for rentals, licenses, refuse charges, levies and rates from February 2009 to June 30, 2013.
Masvingo scrapped close to $12 million owed by its residents.
The city of Harare recently told residents to start paying their bills on time to allow effective service delivery.
Outgoing Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said banks will be hit hard by the debt cancellation because of loans made out to local authorities.
COMMENTS
Newman Chiyadzwa’s disappeared diamonds are more than enough to pay what the nation owes ZESA. Now lets start talking about where those gemstones went and who pocketed the money. Obviously it is the same fat-cats who want their ZESA bills cancelled. Now that’s what we call double dipping!
Mr Mangoma plse get real. Its common knowledge that individual bigwigs both in ZANU PF & MDC have not been paying their dues to ZESA. Moreover, a number of these guyz individually owe more than what a whole high density suburb, like Kambuzuma owes.
Question is: If ZESA has indeed not collapsed due to such huge individual debtors, why should it now collapse when a lesser amount owed by a whole suburb of Rugare is cancelled?
Plse Mr Mangoma just allow the poor to eat the few crumbs from the high-table. Stop being heartless & greed. We all know the rich have not been paying even during your ministerial tenure & you did nothing about it.
Just stop the nonsense & retire in peace – after all governance (including Parastatal) issues are now entirely Zanu Pf issues. So VaMangoma plse keep your thoughts to yourselves – if zanu Pf decides to give some relief to those they have confined to the dust been of poverty let it be.
After all, may be such a move may ensure that by next election zanu pf wont need the services of Nikuv to win an election. With such acts of generosity they mighty be having enough support to do it without the computer gymnastics of these Israelis; which will be a good step towards democracy for the country that deeply lacks such a thing at the moment.
Regai varombo valumewo mafufu iwawo. Aaa mati tisu tadini? ZESA chagara chitunha kare, just like any other paraststal – can only be rescued by Diamond moneys not tuma one dolaar twavarombo twamunongovavarira. Tibviriyi apa VaMangoma, nevamwe vanofunga semi futi.
Mapingu, you need to read the article again. Mangoma specifically says the cancellation of Zesa bills is meant to benefit the big wigs because they are the ones who owe huge amounts.
Mugabe himself owed more than 360 000 when the information was made public while people like Bonyongwe the CIO chief owed in excess of 800 000.
Mapingu, good idea! Lets all just stop paying everything. Why pay any bills at all? In fact why stop there, why pay tax? I think you should run for president, I’ll vote for you. I would suggest that you start planning how we keep everything running, For free!! oh I forgot… There is always the mines. YAY, we can take those over. That will pay for all of us to have free services!!! Oh, only problem is it takes huge amounts of money to get those pesky minerals out the ground- where is that money coming from? Any ideas Mapingu?
Pffft! Who needs electricity? Candles, paraffin, musasa/mopane wood fires and Chinese crank-powered torches are the wave of the future. Electricity is a British machination designed to opress Africans and destroy our glorious Revolution.
I agree on you one that one. We keep on lamenting sanctions this sanctions that. We are saying we are Zimbabweans and we want to do our things on our own. Why do we keep on saying remove the sanctions coz what this will do is to include the very same whites in our business transactions.I don’t get the whole idea of calling the whole point of removing sanctions and saying we want to be independant…
I CONCUR!
“ZESA is currently owed in excess of $600 million” If this statement is by any chance realistic and true then there is nothing to celebrate on date cancellation, because ZESA will one have to increase electricity tarrifs to recover that money. We dont need to be politically minded to run business it will still come to bite us. Celebrating this is beign short sighted because this is not debt cancellation, but “Debt Shelving” Mapingu
Mangoma I am not rich but I am burdened with a ZESA bill that I am not sure how It came to be.
zanu pf had a parallel gvt and it has billions of dollars you can ask biti the zanu cio