Capacity, lack of, in Zimbabwe state and government
There are many examples in Zimbabwe in 2023 of delivery failures. Some examples are road network, power supply, health, education. One reason may be that the State and Government lack the capacity to delver the services that taxes are levied for to provide.
- Capacity: Refers to the ability of any person or organisation to achieve anything. For example, a mine extracting minerals, a farmer growing crops, a government providing national defence, a hospital treating patients.
Capacity is divided into several sectors in the usual economic model:
Capital - refers to the funds needed, for example money for a bus company to buy busses and pay for fuel to put in them.
Labour - people to do the job. May be unskilled - muscular, or skilled - accountants, stock control, management, fitters and turners.
Land - may be literally the land to grow crops on or dig minerals from, or may be factory or warehouse space, office block, mechanic shop.
It must be understood that the "model" is a guideline for understanding, not a rigid set of rules.
- State: the state are those un-elected institutions and persons who are to provide, promote, conduct, achieve anything for the nation. For example, Ministry of Defence/ZDF/ZNA - to provide national security, Ministry of Finance/Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to promote the economy/provide economic stability for business, investment, etc., Ministry of Agriculture to promote agricultural production on farms, Ministry of Mines oversee mineral production and export of raw materials, government hospitals providing health care, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to conduct free and fair elections.
- Government: refers to the citizen's elected representatives (Councillors, MPs, Senators, President) to produce policy that the state must follow. For example Laws (Acts) hat the judiciary must use to release or convict alleged criminals.
Power
Zimbabwe suffers from a deficit of power production (electricity). The state provides power through the (ZPC), a subsidiary of ZESA, while the government provides funds for this parastatal and sets the cost of the power it sells to citizens and industry.
- Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC)
This was formed in 1996 as an investment vehicle in the generation of electricity and became operational in 1999. The organisation has been authorised to construct, own, operate and maintain power generation stations for the supply of electricity. ZPC currently operates four coal-fired power stations, Hwange, Bulawayo, Munyati and Harare thermal stations, and one hydropower station, Kariba South Power Station.
In June 2019 they produced about:
- Hwange – 520MW
- Bulawayo – 18MW
- Munyati – 17MW
- Harare – 17MW
- Kariba – 200 to 650MW.
TOTAL ± 972MW
In June 2021 they produced:
- Hwange - 164MW
- Bulawayo - 0MW
- Munyati - 0MW
- Harare - 14MW
- Kariba - 1023MW
TOTAL 1201MW
In February 2023 they produced:
- Hwange 74MW
- Bulawayo 0MW
- Munyati 0MW
- Harare 0MW
- Kariba 250MW
TOTAL 324MW
This demonstrates a reduction of capacity by the state (subsidiary) to provide electricity. The reasons for this lack are long and varied - outdated plant, failure to maintain/reconstruct, cheap electricity (as a populist political ploy) which fails to financially capacitate the parastatal, and sanctions, are some of the most common.
Pre-Paid Metre Installation
ZESA embarked on a pre-paid metre installation project with the aim of reducing the national consumption levels. The idea was also meant to recover millions of dollars of unpaid bills by individuals, private companies as well as government departments. The replacement of the conventional billing system was also in line with the improvements in the Information and Communication systems. In March 2011 Powertel extended the backbone to Mutare into Mozambique to create a second gateway to the undersea cable Seacom. This provided an essential backup in terms of internet connectivity to ensure that the customer is never down.[1]
Faults at Hwange 2023
Fuel
National Oil Company of Zimbabwe
In 2002, the company entered into a partnership agreement with Tamoil Trading (based in Libya), as a means to curtail fuel shortages which began to be rampant in the last quarter of 1999. [3] Mr Amos Midzi who was the then Minister of Energy and Power Development was credited for bringing about this lucrative deal whose proceeds remain obscure. This saw the re-branding of the company informally into Tamoil Zimbabwe. [3] The deal was short lived and they were erratic supplies of fuel and petroleum products. During this time, the company had incurred debts amounting to about US$345. [4]
In 2011, the company was divided into two companies with separate duties. [5] The company had long been earmarked for possible restructuring as it was targeted as one of the government owned companies which was failing to remit revenues to the national treasury. The then Minister of Energy and Power Development, Mr Elton Mangoma, stated that, NOCZIM was losing money all because the government was reluctant to restructure it. [5]
Pipelines
Feruka-Harare Pipeline
This fuel pipeline between Beria and Harare is 504km long and was constructed in 1964. The pipeline has a capacity of 130 million litres of fuel per month. Zimbabwe’s fuel consumption was measured at 165 million litres per month in 2019.
As reported on p22 of Cartel Power Dynamics in Zimbabwe in Case Study 2 The Fuel Cartels, control of the Feruka-Harare pipeline is critical to capturing the economic rent, as government has pushed for most fuel to be imported through the pipeline. (Ncube, F. 2016. “Oil regulator wants fuel import trucks banned.” Chronicle, November 11)
NOIC Pipeline Project
Gold
Medical
Numerous doctors and nurse strikes, lack of medicine in hospitals.
Currency
Sports
June 2023, in a move that is unprecedented Dynamos and Caps United have registered Barbourfields as their home ground. Previously eight teams in Harare used National Sports Stadium as home ground. Previously in Harare there were Rufaro, Gwanzura, Danny Bismark, DZ, Motor Action, & Chibuku (in Chitungwiza) as football venues. Now there is not one usable stadium in Harare. No usable stadiums in:
- Rusape which used to have Vengere
- Mutare (Sakubva)
- Kadoma (Cam & Motor Mine's stadium)
- Kariba (Nyamhunga)
- Redcliff (Torwood)
- Kwekwe (Baghdad)
- Masvingo (Mucheke)
- Hwange (Colliery)
- Bindura (Chipadze & Trojan)
Government has failed to invest in stadiums with just National Sports Stadium built since 1980, councils have neglected their stadiums except Bulawayo City Council. Private companies aren't interested in sport anymore and private investors aren't seeing the return on stadium investments.
Zimbabwe lacks capacity to host football matches.
In June 2023, Dynamos Football Club, along with seven other Premier Soccer League teams, were asked by the Premier Soccer League to seek alternative venues for their home games following the closure of Harare’s National Sports Stadium. Harare’s lack of stadiums resulted in the teams having no choice but to share the National Sports Stadium. This resulting in excessive usage that posed both logistical and a health hazard. The Sport and Recreation Commission, the custodians of the facility, had no option but to recommend its closure due to sporadic cholera outbreaks. What made the situation worse was the lack of water which expose fans to health risks. [6]
References
- ↑ , Who we are, "ZESA Holdings", retrieved:13 Oct 2014"
- ↑ ZPC attends to faults at Hwange power plant, The Herald, Published: 28 February 2023, Retrieved: 1 March 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 National Oil Company of Zimbabwe enters partnership with Tamoil, Alexander's Gas and Oil Connections, published:28 Nov 2002,retrieved:29 July 2014"
- ↑ Krispen Mashange, Occasional Paper 16: An Assessment of Liquid Fuel Policies in Zimbabwe, AFREPREN, published:2007,retrieved:29 July 2014"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Zimbabwe reforms state-owned oil company, United Press International Inc, published:14 Jan 2011,retrieved:29 July 2014"
- ↑ Homeless Dynamos settle at B/F…Blue Carnival perches @ Emagumeni, Pindula, Published: 24 June 2023, Retrieved: 29 June 2023
