Elephants destroy electricity poles

Bulawayo Bureau
August 2, 2010

The Sipepa area of Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North has gone for a week without power following the destruction of electricity poles by elephants.

The power outages have seriously affected the operations of Sipepa Clinic and police station as well as commercial activities.

The electrical poles also connect to St Luke’s Mission Hospital in Lupane, which has been affected by the power outages.

Villagers said the non-availability of electricity was affecting water supplies.

"The piped water we use in the area is pumped using electricity.

"Now that it has been switched off for seven days also means that there is no water for the same number of days," said Sizalobuhle Village headman, Mr Moses Majaha Ncube.

"We have a business centre in the area with shops that store goods in refrigerators. They have been seriously affected by the unavailability of electricity.

"Most of the goods have gone bad. Some businesses have generators, which in any case are expensive to operate."

Mr Ncube said they were no longer able to communicate using phones since the transmission network was also affected.

"The area is covered by NetOne. Econet and Telecel are yet to reach the area.

"The landlines are not working either. We also understand that St Luke’s Mission Hospital is without electricity."

Mr Ncube, who chairs the health advisory board at Sipepa Clinic, added: "The clinic serves a number of villages in the area and therefore, receives a lot of patients.

"With the next hospital located about 80 kilometres from here, it means the clinic will at times be forced to do emergency operations.

"The police have been affected in terms of administration because they need electricity for the smooth running of the station."

A villager, Mr Morris Moyo, called on Zesa to act quickly and repair the damaged lines.

What's the big deal, there is no electricity to transmit any way. It is comical, and at the same time sad, to drive in Zim and see telephone and power lines that are a complete jumbled up disaster. I read a book recently by Tim Butcher (Blood River). He talks about the Congo and wrote:

"He was one of the many elderly characters I met in the Congo who conveyed to me such a vivid picture of a country in decline, a backward community that was not just undeveloped, but undeveloping."

The picture in Zim is not nearly as bleak, but in many respects it does seem to be "undeveloping" too.

Not sure undeveloping is a bad or good thing in Zim, but don't care for it much here. It is what Obongo has been taught, distribution of wealth so everyone is poor, except the ruling class.

Happened in Zim and everywhere else it has been tried.

So if I am reading this correct, the Elephants are knocking down the poles? Why not use a metal or concrete pole? Does the Electricity kill the Elephants?

they stole all the wires already anyway

Shortly to be followed by a story of Zim parks destroy marauding elephants. .......or at the very least some unfortunate business will have to line the pockets of the power authorities man in charge to have the line repaired.