Zesa technicians use public transport to attend faults

MOST Zesa vehicles have been grounded, forcing technicians seeking transport from clients to attend to faults using public transport.

Although Zesa stations generally face the same problem throughout the whole country, the worst hit is Beitbridge.

Western region Zesa acting manager Lloyd Jaji confirmed the development, saying a pool vehicle will be dispatched to Beitbridge as the country prepares to reopen the border post.

Most of the Zesa vehicles at Beitbridge are down with varying problems related to poor maintenance, massive workloads and what residents believe is recklessness.

“The vehicle shortage is not confined to Beitbridge alone. We have a problem at many stations and this challenge has even resulted in us outsourcing,” Jaji said yesterday.

“We will be dispatching a pool vehicle to Beitbridge and we will be up to the task when the border reopens. Our fleet is constantly on the road because of the workload which outstrips the fleet,” he said.

“We have to outsource, hire vehicles in most of our areas and that is the situation in Gweru and most stations,” he said. There is an outcry in Beitbridge where Zesa technicians are failing to attend to faults with a recent incident where Health deputy minister John Mangwiro was forced to perform a surgical operation to speed up the process after a power outage.

“I reported a fault at my house and it has not been attended to. It is three days, but there is no feedback,” a Beitbridge resident, who requested anonymity, said.

At the Zesa office, people are asked to provide transport if they need assistance and some people have to hire cars to be assisted. Jaji said it was not proper for Zesa employees to ask for transport from clients, but where it is offered, it becomes a win-win situation.