Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, was on Thursday plunged into darkness after striking workers at state-owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) switched off power supplies to the city.
The Zesa workers, who join state doctors who have since last week abandoned hospitals protesting against poor salaries and working conditions, downed tools after reaching a deadlock with management over salary and wage hikes for this year.
The workers are reportedly demanding a 1 150% salary hike to cushion them against the country’s galloping inflation, which at 1098,8% is the highest in the world.
But management at the power utility, which is virtually bankrupt due to years of maladministration and corruption, is offering to hike salaries by 144%.
Zesa spokesperson James Maridadi confirmed the job action but said workers had agreed to return to work late on Thursday, a claim that could not be immediately confirmed with workers whose representatives were not available for comment.
Maridadi said: “They [workers] deliberately caused the interruption of supply. They have no reason to go on strike. They must wait for arbitration [of the salary dispute].”
Zesa had earlier attempted to explain power blackouts in Harare and other major cities as a result of a breakdown in transmission equipment but insiders said while this was partly true, the major reason was because disgruntled workers had switched off supplies.
Economic analysts this week said Zimbabwe is likely to sink deeper into crisis in 2007, warning that Zimbabweans should brace up for a fresh round of price increases and worsening living conditions on the back of the free-fall of the Zimbabwe dollar against major currencies.
Some analysts project that inflation will this year climb past the 4 000% mark, which was predicted by the International Monetary Fund late last year, and inflict more hardships on poor Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe has since 1999 been grappling with an agonising economic meltdown, which critics blame on repression and mismanagement by President Robert Mugabe, a charge the veteran leader denies.
As a result of a poor grain harvest, up to two million Zimbabweans are living on the benevolence of international food aid agencies. — ZimOnline