Source: Zesa disconnects rogue customers | The Herald August 9, 2019
A ZESA Holdings employee disconnects an illegal cable from the grid in Mbare yesterday. — Picture by Edward Zvemisha Ellen Chasokela Herald Reporter
ZESA Holdings has embarked on a national blitz to disconnect all households illegally connected to the grid.The operation comes after ZESA Holdings is losing millions of dollars from households using free electricity.
The Herald witnessed some of the disconnection process yesterday in Mbare and at Glen Norah A Specimen shopping centre.
The illegally connected houses have prepaid meters, but they do not recharge their meters. These meters have a fixed balance of zero because electricity is drawn straight from the main cables.
ZESA spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said the company was losing a lot of money due to illegal connections.
“Our projections are that we have been losing about $10 million per quarter so for this year we have lost about $20 million through theft of electricity.
“I think what’s important is for our customers to appreciate that we have launched a nationwide campaign to try and rectify this anomaly going in all institutions and installations.
“Our system has an in-built capacity to identity those meters that are transacting or that have suspicious low consumption so we are guided, so this is the analysis that we are following through regularising.
“When customers are found wanting it’s important to emphasise that it’s a criminal offence that is punishable by a 10-year jail sentence in addition to the company recouping its money,’’ he said.
Gwasira added that it is very dangerous to by-pass electricity cables.
“Electricity cables are not something to play around with as one can get electrocuted which can cause death or cause fire’’.
A Mbare resident who refused to be named said the landlord had been demanding money every month for electricity.
“We have a welding business outside his yard so the electricity we use is drawn from his house. He demands money monthly threatening to disconnect us if we fail to pay him yet he does not pay anything to ZESA.
“It’s unfair how he harasses us for payments yet the electricity is free of charge.
“Now the authorities has disconnected the household from electricity and we cannot continue with our business and we do not know for how long till he sorts out his mess and get reconnected ,’’he said.
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COMMENTS
How about disconnecting those bigwigs who refuse to pay for the Zesa they use in their obscene mansions.
Why has ZESA been so shy when they are at last appearing to stop these blatant thefts of electricity?
ZESA should have stamped out this crime from when it first raised its ugly head.
Their tiptoeing around the problem for years was not a help and always made fools of those honest people who paid for their electricity.
But the biggest problem was ZESA openly allowing politically connected ZANU PF offenders to let their electricity go unpaid for years. And many of these bills ran into millions…and are still outstanding.
But there must be something wrong with us as a people. I know that where I live in the UK my neighbours would be chasing me to pay if they suspected me of stealing electricity. And I would be doing the same to them if they were stealing electricity. Sadly, that does not happen at home.
Obvious not the bigwigs!
Electricians who work for zesa are involved in those bypassing deals.who would temper with electricity without any knowledge of which wire to connect or disconnect?
ZESA – just a group of idiots – let politically connected people borrow money ( build up debt by using power & not paying) in USD and now ask for it back in RTGS bond note ( second class money) – huge currency loss that you, the taxpayer, will pay – ZW’s circus rolls on and on again – providing outsiders with reason to shake their heads at our constant stupidity
Rogue customers – you mean criminal customers or thieves – people who steal my maize cobs are thieves – people who steal zesa power are thieves – english is a simple language comrades – stop trying to sugar coat it – always better to use simple words instead of trying to show us how crever you are Ellen Chasokela Herald Reporter
It does go on the UK, particularly for the growing of Cannabis, which needs to be kept at constant temperature. The method is to measure the load in the middle of the day on each phase (the suspect phase will have an exceptionally big load) or use a thermal camera to look at premises. Both bring results. unfortunately it is not a difficult action to by-pass metering, never the less very dangerous. Developments in electricity measuring equipment include a polling system that checks the validity of the equipment without the customer being aware. On another front: Why are high up people exempt? come on that is stealing!
Stealing is ok in ZW if you are a big wig and connected to ZANUPF – how do you think it has worked for approx 40 years comrade Him ?