Small businesses on the brink
Providence Moyo
Bulawayo small enterprises are teetering on the brink of collapse due to the persisting power cuts in the city, we can reveal.
Entrepreneurs who spoke to this publication said the blackouts crippling their businesses pose an existential threat to their sources of livelihood.
Topaz Ndlovu who specializes in producing and selling french fries in New Magwegwe said the elusive power is accelerating the demise of his once-thriving business. He is contemplating taking a break from his enterprise.
” I do no not know how I am going to pay for this month’s rental. I’m seriously considering closing shop until the situation normalises, if ever it will. The nature of my line of business does not help matters. Even if I try to produce when electricity is available during the night and the wee hours of the morning, it would still be a waste of resources because customers want hot fries and selling them cold is impossible,” he said.
Another entrepreneur, Tanyaradzwa Ncube who is into welding said he can no longer deliver on time to customers and as a result, is forced to turn away others due to a huge backlog.
” As a self employed welder, I’m not in a position to deliver full and timely service to my customers because there is no electricity to sustain my business. Sometimes I’m forced to wake up during the night and work since electricity is only available at night when everyone is asleep. I’m forced to turn away some of my loyal customers because of the massive backlog. I try to be honest with my customers so that I don’t lose more of them by promising and not delivering,” said Ncube.
Ncube said he now relies on a few of his customers that would be lucky enough to have electricity at some point during the day who call him in.
Just like other residents, Ncube has to make sure that by the time he retires to bed his cellphone is plugged in for charging during the night.
Liquid petroleum gas prices have reportedly shot up following high demand owing to the extreme power cuts. 1kg gas rose from US$1.80 and now ranges between US$2.30. and US$2.50 per kg in the townships. Residents are now resorting to environmentally unfriendly means of fuel such as firewood.
Some residents are calling for the Zimbabwe Electrical Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) to notify residents by providing schedules for power outages.
“They are letting us down. Power is shut down arbitrarily without any warning. This makes it so difficult to plan for these power cuts. ZETDC must respect us. It is the least they can do. My chicken business has gone up in smoke and I do not know how I can be able to feed my 4 children going forward. It will definitely be a bleak Christmass for us. We are being taken for granted as Zimbabweans,” said a Luveve woman who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Incessant power cuts go beyond 17 hours in most parts of the city that include Magwegwe, Lobengula, Entumbane, Emakhandeni, Njube, Luveve, Nketa , Nkulumane and Pumula.
It has become the norm that power is only made available at night when most people are sleeping and is turned off before they wake up.
In a bid to allay fears of protracted blackouts, Nick Mangwana, Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services claimed that government is actively seeking solutions which include power imports and increasing capacity at Hwange Power Station.
“As a way of activating mitigatory measures to stabilise the electricity shortage, Dr Gata -ZESA Executive Chairman is traveling to Mozambique to finalize power import negotiations. In Hwange engineers are diligently making sure unit 7 is on the grid before month end,” he tweeted.
The Zambezi River Authority, which runs the Kariba Dam, last week announced that Zimbabwe had exhausted its allocation of the water in the world’s largest man-made reservoir, further compounding an already desperate power generation situation for Zimbabwe.
