If you think SA has a power crisis, look at what's happening in Zimbabwe

For the past two decades Zimbabwe has struggled with a worsening power crisis caused by dilapidated equipment and a ballooning power import debt.

The country has one hydropower plant and four thermal-power plants, with a combined capacity to generate 2,240 megawatts. However, it produces only 1,300MW.

Hwange thermal power station, the country's biggest and oldest power plant, suffers frequent breakdowns due to ageing equipment. Zimbabwe’s power utility also relies heavily on hydropower generated by Kariba Dam but its water level is diminishing because of severe drought, causing greatly reduced power generation.

Load-shedding in Zimbabwe is inconsistent and unplanned, and for the past decade it has grown worse. In 2019 the power utility rolled out 18-hour daily power cuts that nearly crippled the economy. In 2021 the power provider imposed load-shedding lasting up to 12 hours a day.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Kurai Matsheza recently said in the state-owned Herald newspaper: “It's really crippling industry, we can't go forward and you know without power we can't start our machinery. And it is not only industry that is affected, all facets of life are. We are really at a point where all our predictions to year-end will not be realised at this rate.

“We are actually going back. We hear stories [about] 300MW  of imported power ... We have not seen it. We don’t want to talk [to the utility], we want power,” said Matsheza.

On Wednesday the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company announced it would increase power cuts — up to 13 hours a day — countrywide.

Some Zimbabweans use mini-solar panels to light up their homes and firewood for cooking. With the average worker there  earning US$100 (about R1,700) a month, a mini-solar panel is a luxury.

Susan Masenga, a mother of three young children, said the power cuts are unbearable.

“We spent the whole day and night without electricity. We cook using firewood. I can’t afford to buy a solar panel. It’s difficult for the children too. They study by candlelight. Often we get up at the crack of dawn just to cook a meal and do household chores like ironing when the electricity is available,” said Masenga.

Recently the government announced it had finalised its power-import arrangements with Zambia and Mozambique. This after the state-owned power utility said it was struggling to secure funds and failing to sustain power-import arrangements.

Zambia’s Zesco power-import contract was set to expire at the end of July after Zimbabwe failed to pay a $6.3m monthly import bill.