ZESA Holdings has embarked on a nationwide blitz on
defaulters and is blacklisting them so that they cannot open new accounts using
different addresses.
In an interview, ZESA spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said
the power utility had embarked on a cocktail of measures to recover its debt
including disconnections, litigation and blocking defaulters from “taking their
bad practice elsewhere”.
The power utility is owed more than $1 billion by domestic,
mining, industrial and other users.
“The power utility is taking various measures that include
blacklisting, installation of prepayment meters for domestic consumers and
small institutions, installation of smart meters for medium and large power
users that consume 100 Amps and above.
“We are also resorting to disconnections and litigation
against such defaulters to recover the revenue that is locked with them,” he
said.
On blacklisting, Mr Gwasira said: “Blacklisting is part of
credit control options in use by all business in an attempt to flag out customers
with a deviant behaviour from taking their bad practice of not honouring debts
by opening accounts elsewhere. It is not a preserve of ZESA.”
Mr Gwasira said the blitz excludes critical service
providers that offer basic service delivery, including local authorities.
“Disconnections are not affecting critical service
providers like defaulting municipalities but we are engaging them on the legal
front to ensure that they pay for their consumption of electricity,” he said.
Mr Gwasira encouraged consumers to settle their bills for
ZESA to be in a position to efficiently provide service by ensuring
infrastructure maintenance and procurement of adequate inputs such as coal for
electricity generation.
He said the power utility would also be in a position to
pay for power imports and ensure a good credit rating with its external
suppliers of electricity.
Zesa has since descended on small scale miners in Midlands
Province, switching off power to those in arrears while demanding full
settlement of debt in forex. Miners accused the power utility of ambushing
them, a development which they said has stalled production at most of the
mines.
Said Mr Trynos Toziva who is chairperson of Small Scale
Miners Association (Silobela chapter): “What the power utility has done is not
fair, they have ambushed us and switched off power at most of the mines. They
should have at least notified us and gave us time to make a payment plan since
they now demand payment in US dollars from us.
“We can’t raise the required money because they just came
and switched off our mines and I have checked, they have done this in the
province as a whole.”
Mr Toziva said they have since written a letter to ZESA
provincial manager Engineer King Dube appealing for them to accept a payment
plan from the miners.
“What they have done is unfair so we have written a letter
of complaint to the regional manager, they have stalled business and production
in mining which is driving this economy,” he said.
Another affected small-scale miner, Mr Baron Nago of
Shurugwi, said a majority of them were affected by the exercise.
“There is little business in terms of production in the
whole of Shurugwi since Monday when Zesa officials moved in to switch off all
mines in arrears while demanding full payment in forex.
“It was a surprise move to many. We contribute a lot in the
gold output but we were just ambushed and everything is on a standstill,” he
said. Herald
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