The
residents
say
several
attempts
to
engage
the
Zimbabwe
Electricity
Transmission
and
Distribution
Company
(ZETDC)
have
not
yielded
results,
leaving
them
in
the
dark
for
months.
Airing
their
grievances
at
a
community
meeting
hosted
by
the
Bulawayo
Progressive
Residents
Association
(BPRA)
on
Wednesday,
the
residents
said
the
outage
has
made
it
difficult
to
carry
out
basic
daily
activities
that
require
electricity.
One
resident,
who
identified
herself
as
Gogo
Mabhena,
said
the
situation
has
become
particularly
difficult
for
elderly
people
who
rely
on
medication
that
needs
refrigeration.
“We
have
gone
for
a
very
long
time
without
electricity.
Some
of
us
are
now
old
and
we
have
pills
and
injections
that
we
take
periodically.
Some
of
this
medication
needs
to
be
stored
in
refrigerators,”
she
said.
“How
safe
is
it
to
take
such
sensitive
substances
for
storage
to
neighbours?
They
need
extra
care.
“Furthermore,
every
morning
we
have
to
bother
those
same
neighbours
and
ask
them
to
charge
our
phones
for
us.
Of
course
people
may
agree
on
some
days,
but
at
some
point
you
can
tell
that
you
are
now
bothering
someone.”
Another
resident,
Lucky,
said
they
have
made
several
appeals
to
the
power
utility
but
there
has
not
been
a
positive
outcome.
“At
first
we
were
asked
to
pay
US$13
per
household
because
they
said
the
cables
had
been
damaged.
They
restored
them
and
we
were
only
reconnected
for
a
week,”
he
said.
“After
that
we
were
asked
to
pay
US$37
per
household
again
because
they
said
the
transformer
needed
to
be
replaced.
Our
community
has
many
elderly
people
who
cannot
afford
that
amount
of
money.
We
really
need
some
sort
of
intervention.”
BPRA
Ward
17
chairperson,
Elias
Nyathi,
said
they
have
tried
various
avenues
to
seek
assistance
but
none
have
produced
results
so
far.
“We
have
spoken
to
different
people
from
ZESA
but
we
have
not
gotten
any
breakthrough
yet.
We
even
tried
our
local
MP,
Sichelilesile
Mahlangu,
but
nothing
much
has
changed,”
Nyathi
said.
“Our
elders
do
not
have
the
amount
requested.
We
need
assistance.
We
sincerely
believe
that
it
is
unjust
to
make
people
buy
new
transformers
because
in
some
instances
it
is
not
their
fault
that
they
break
down
or
stop
working
completely.
We
really
need
help
with
our
current
plight.”