Maputo (MOZTIMES) – Supporters of fugitive presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane have halted the generation of electricity in the Ressano Garcia and Gigawatt power stations.
According to a press release issued on Saturday by the publicly-owned electricity company, EDM, the stoppages have reduced by 30% EDM’s capacity to supply power to southern Mozambique.
The two power stations generate a total of 250 megawatts. Of this amount, 150 megawatts supplies southern Mozambique (Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane provinces and Maputo city), and the rest is exported to neighbouring countries. The power stations use Mozambican natural gas, extracted by the South African petrochemical giant Sasol, from the Pande and Temane fields in Inhambane province.
EDM says this situation has forced it to restrict power supplies to southern Mozambique “in a programmed and rotating manner, seeking to minimise the impact of the paralysis of those power stations on the consumers”.
The restoration of normal operation of the power stations “will depend on developments on the ground, and on the capacity to control the situation which is currently very complex and worrying”, says EDM.
The two power stations were shut down because of threats from a group of pro-Mondlane demonstrators. EDM opted for a shutdown rather than the unpredictable consequences of disobeying the rioters.
This avoided any damage to the power stations, and hence power supplies can be resumed rapidly, if any agreement is reached with Mondlane’s men.
In Ressano Garcia, the local population complains of the allegedly high prices of electricity, frequently comparing them to the prices in South Africa, regarded as more accessible.
In this latest wave of protests, the government has proved unable to defend key infrastructures. This was shown, not only in Ressano Garcia, but in the northern province of Nampula where, on Thursday, one of the main mining companies, Kenmare Resources, was invaded by demonstrators demanding more tangible benefits for the local communities.
Last Wednesday, Interior Minister Pascoal Ronda, promised “zero tolerance” for any further riots or demonstrations. Events in Nampula and Ressano Garcia have shown how empty those words were. (MT)
