Some years back, when the Morupule Power Station was commissioned, the other two power stations of Selebi Phikwe and Gaborone were decommissioned and the equipment at these power stations, I understand, was later sold for a song.
When these power stations were shut down, my assumption was that the Morupule power station was such a big project that it would be able to supply the whole country with power so much that there would be a surplus that would be sold to other needy countries, especially that this was also at the time that the international grid system was introduced in Botswana and neighbouring countries. To my surprise, years later I was to learn that in fact we were actually importing more electricity and exporting nothing.
It was reasoned that it is cheaper to do that than to produce enough of our own electricity. Although I am a layman and do not know much about production of electricity, I have never bought this concept as much as I have never bought the idea of relying on another country for the supply of basic needs such as food.
Today we are talking of investing lots of money in the Bulawayo Power Station in order to alleviate our power supply problems. This is made even more crucial by the fact that Eskom, the South African company that is currently supplying us with most of our power demand is going to reduce the amount of power it has been giving us due to increase of demand in their own country.
Today it is South Africa cutting the power supply and tomorrow it will be Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The question is why can't we invest in our own power supply while we still have the money to do it?
As I have mentioned above, I do not know much about power production, but I am aware that we need coal, which we have in abundance to heat up water in the boilers to produce steam that would then be used to drive the turbines that would ultimately produce electricity. So I cannot understand why we are unable to be self sufficient in power supply unless the problem is water which we have for many years exported to South Africa by refusing to dam our rivers. I need someone to explain to me why investing in Zimbabwe is better than investing in our own power stations lest we are misled as was the case with beneficiation of diamonds which for years we were made to believe that it is not possible in this country. I know that there are pending projects of Mmamabula and the Morupule power station expansion which seems like their survival depends on funding from outside investors, and this is already causing so much delay. Why can't the government inject the needed funds into these projects and own them?
CHRIS MOTSHOLAPHEKO
JWANENG
