By Vimbai Malinganiza
IN a little over two-and-half-years, over 3 000 vandalism and theft cases of ZESA infrastructure were reported, resulting in the loss of over US$11 million.
Last year, TelOne lost US$1 million to vandalism and theft of cables and other network infrastructure, leaving customers without services and the company without revenue as most of its services are now prepaid.
Electricity and communication are central to the attainment of Vision 2030 — the vision of an empowered upper-middle income economy.
In the face of such vandalism the nation will struggle to achieve President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vision, which is expected to uplift millions of Zimbabweans from poverty.
Zimbabwe’s 10-year economic blueprint — the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) — recognises the development of reliable, adequate and affordable electricity as critical to economic stability and growth.
But the vandalisation of infrastructure reverses the aspirations of NDS1, a situation that calls for law enforcement agencies to intervene as a matter of urgency.
Similarly, under NDS1, Government has prioritised ICTs as a cross-cutting measure to reduce the urban-rural divide and enable access to ICTs by all its citizens.
TelOne chief executive officer Lawrence Nkala recently told journalists that the company was facing ‘. . . serious theft of copper cables and other network elements across the country’.
“The theft and vandalism have been so rife that it has become one of the top threats to the sustainability of the TelOne business.
“While Harare has been significantly affected by this vice, mining towns like Kadoma, Kwekwe and Gweru have also been hit hard, with some areas going without service for months.
“In 2023, almost 50 000 TelOne customers were at some point affected by downtime due to network theft and vandalism.”
During the course of last year, Harare recorded 126 vandalism and theft cases, followed by Midlands which had 75 while Matabeleland North had the least number of attacks, after recording only four.
Thirty-eight people were arrested during the year while four convictions were recorded and other cases are at different stages of completion in the court.
Nkala said: “The value of the vandalised network for the year 2023 stood at around US$1 million. The replacement of the copper network, which is now outdated and continues to be subjected to widespread network vandalism, has become urgent.”
The ZESA story
ZESA loss control general manager Festo Madembo recently told the media that, from 2021 up to early this year, the power utility lost US$11 055 211 in 3 003 cases of vandalism and theft.
From January to June this year alone, 777 cases of theft and vandalism were reported, resulting in the company losing US$1 795 054 in six months.
“Because of this huge cost incurred due to vandalism, we have declared war against such acts because they are a threat to national infrastructure and to the overall attainment of 2030 national development goals,” he said.
In 2021, ZESA reported 1 237 cases of vandalism and theft whose losses were valued at US$4 406 685, with 166 arrests made and seven convictions achieved.
Those convictions saw the culprits getting a combined 60 years in prison.
In 2022, 1 766 cases of theft and vandalism, whose losses were valued at US$4 853 632, were reported with 288 arrests made and jail terms of a combined 452 years meted out on the vandals and thieves.
To curb the vandalism, ZETDC has now partnered with the University of Zimbabwe (UZ).
“We have been trying to use traditional methods (that is) using security guards and other security measures.
“But the reason we are here today is to up the game so that we bring in academia to link up with us to find solutions — technical, legal and legislative, among other means — in a cross-cutting solution to curb this vandalism,” Engineer Abel Gurupira of ZETDC said recently
He said his organisation was aware of the detrimental impact that vandalism of electricity infrastructure has on communities, the economy and collective well-being.
“Each act of sabotage not only disrupts power supply but also poses significant safety risks and imposes substantial financial burden on both the utility and the consumers.
“In confronting this challenge, innovation emerges as our most potent weapon. Innovation not only empowers us to devise new technologies and methodologies to safeguard our infrastructure but also enables us to cultivate a culture of vigilance and resilience within our communities.
“Innovation lies at the heart of ZETDC’s strategy to combat vandalism. We recognise that traditional methods alone are insufficient to address the evolving tactics of perpetrators. Therefore, ZETDC is committed to embracing cutting-edge technologies and novel approaches to enhance the security of our assets and infrastructure.”
Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Amon Murwira believes Education 5.0 should help ZESA and TelOne curb vandalism.
“We shall build our nation based on knowledge and innovation. What this implies is that our education system has to depart from chasing phantom things to chasing reality that is grounded in the fulfilment of human needs,” said Prof Murwira
“In other words, this means all equations taught in the lecture rooms must be put to action. All formulae and knowledge taught must be grounded in reality and be seen in action, for example in solving our energy problems. This made us adopt heritage-based Education 5.0.”
He added that Government appreciated that the UZ and ZETDC partnership offered a platform for local innovators to demonstrate some of the emerging solutions with potential to address the problem of vandalism now and into the future.
“We have no doubt that we, as Zimbabweans, will set the pace in the provision of relevant solutions to these problems which others will come and copy — and we make them pay for our brains,” said Prof Murwira.
“The coming together of ZETDC and the UZ through the Innovation Hub is a notable milestone in our quest to build our nation through collaboration of Government, academia and industry in providing solutions to problems affecting our nation.
“The role of higher education to implement effective strategies to safeguard our energy infrastructure and ensure a stable and secure energy future for Zimbabwe cannot be over-stated. Our universities and research institutions are breeding grounds for innovative solutions.”
