Bulawayo residents seek a law to penalize transformer free-riders

Dark houses and repeat transformer failures have Magwegwe North residents demanding a law that forces everyone to chip in or get kicked off the grid.

Magwegwe North transformer dispute

• Ninety-six households have lacked power since December last year.
• Givemore Kutyauripo said this marks the third transformer breakdown.
• Residents previously bought two transformers from their own pockets.
• Luveve Zesa office promised token reimbursements that never came.

Calls for compulsory contributions

• Community members want a statutory instrument enforcing payments.
• About 10 households refuse to contribute, yet reconnect later.
• Kutyauripo argued non-payers should be removed from the grid.
• Each home is being asked for roughly US$8.

Frustration with Zesa's response

• Residents say Zesa keeps pushing repair costs onto them.
• Christmas 2024 was spent without electricity until April.
• Engagement attempts by councillors and the Member of Parliament failed.
• Communication from Zesa has reportedly dried up completely.

Civic voice weighs in

• Thamsanqa Ndlovu said neighbors cannot legally force payments.
• Bulawayo Residents Charter urged Zesa to shield compliant households.
• The current transformer remains under repair, prolonging outages.
• Contact attempts to the Zesa Bulawayo regional office went unanswered.