Nationwide Power Outage in Zimbabwe Disrupts Businesses and Daily Life
In an unexpected turn of events, a significant technical fault at the Insukamini substation in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, led to a countrywide power outage early yesterday morning. The incident, which commenced around 05:22 hrs, caused widespread disruption, affecting businesses, traffic systems, and daily routines across the nation.
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) confirmed the incident, attributing the outage to a system surge caused by a busbar fault at the Insukamini 330kv substation. While power has been restored in most regions, Zesa’s technical teams are working diligently to ensure complete restoration.
The power cut severely impacted business operations, particularly in Bulawayo. Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries Matabeleland Chapter president, Mr. Joseph Gunda, expressed concerns over the shutdown of most industries, which lacked alternative power sources. Small to medium enterprises (SMEs), crucial to the economy, faced acute challenges. Mr. Nketa Mangoye Dlamini, the Bulawayo Chamber of SMEs programmes coordinator, emphasized the significant impact of lost production hours, especially for businesses involved in producing school uniforms with impending deadlines.
The outage also led to traffic chaos in busy intersections due to non-functional traffic lights, complicating the morning commute for thousands of motorists.
On a more personal front, residents like Mrs. Edith Zhou and Ms. Gladys Ndlovu shared their worries. Mrs. Zhou feared the loss of perishable food items, while Ms. Ndlovu’s concern was for her diabetes medication, which requires refrigeration.
This incident comes as a surprise, given the recent commissioning of Unit 7 and 8 of the US$1.4 billion Hwange expansion project, which added 600MW to the national grid, significantly improving power generation and reducing instances of load shedding.
As Zimbabwe grapples with this unexpected power crisis, the focus remains on Zesa’s efforts to restore normalcy and the broader implications for the country’s infrastructure resilience.