MASSIVE changes are looming at Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) as Energy minister Fortune Chasi orders mass transfers.
The no-nonsense Chasi is understood to have sent managers quacking in their shoes after he directed ZETDC management to effect what he called necessary transfers.
Chasi is reportedly miffed by the unprecedented theft of electricity and ZESA equipment.
The minister is also understood to have repeated recent statements by President Emmerson Mnangagwa that implicated Zesa employees in the wave of transformer and cable thefts, saying achieving such a fit would require specialised skills.
Chasi also fired a salvo at companies that have been avoiding paying for power through connivance with Zesa employees who would then tamper with power meters and cables so that their “clients” do not pay anything for the power consumed.
He warned defaulting companies to approach Zesa and make payment arrangements.
Chasi said should they fail to make payment arrangements, they would be made to pay for all the power consumed inclusive of penalties as well as face blacklisting.
Asked to comment on the alleged looming transfers, Chasi said doing so was necessary as “familiarity bred contempt”.
He said transfers were necessary to deal with various ills such as favouritism in the distribution of transformers, general arrogance and a sluggish response to reports by clients.
The minister said police were also occasionally transferred for similar reasons, sometimes even without notice.
Many Zesa managers, according to Chasi, had become demigods in their areas of operation.
Accordingly, the minister demanded an auditable schedule of all those being transferred by name, their current station and where they were being posted.
