South Africa’s Eskom is looking for a payment from Zimbabwe for power it has supplied the country. The governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has reassured that Zesa, the national electricity company, will pay a substantial amount to reduce its debt to South Africa.
This is the third time in three months that Eskom, the South African electricity supplier, is writing to warn of the suspension of the 300 MW it is sending to Zimbabwe.
An agreement reached by the two countries after the first warning, stipulates that the Zesa will have to pay at least $10 million a month, but the latter has already violated the terms of the agreement.
In the past month, the eminent supply disruption led the Central Bank to pay $8 million to alleviate the debt, which amounts to $44 million. When asked about the reasons for Zesa’s failures, Josh Chifamba, chief engineer, explained: "We do not do it on purpose. We have failed in our commitments because of the cyclical nature of exports and, consequently, foreign exchange earnings in the country. But we will do everything we can to make sure we do not miss out on that source of energy."