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Nqobile Tshili Chronicle Reporter
A suspected copper cable thief was electrocuted by a 66,000 volt power line along Airport Road just out of Bulawayo yesterday.
The incident happened about 10km from the city in the early hours of the morning.
Police are yet to identify the man who was reportedly fried to a crisp by the 66KV line that Zesa technicians said had the capacity to provide electricity for the whole of Bulawayo.

People gathered at the scene told Chronicle the suspected cable thief’s partners in crime fled, leaving his body behind.
They said farmers in surrounding plots were facing challenges of unscheduled power cuts due to prevalent cable theft.

“The man’s body was a blackened stump that kept disintegrating as police tried to put it into their metal coffin. It is possible that if they do not handle it properly, it will be dust by the time they get it to the morgue,” said Moses Moyo.

Witnesses said the electrocution should serve as a warning to other people who were destroying the economy by stealing and destroying infrastructure.

Zesa southern regional general manager Lovemore Chinaka confirmed the incident but said he was not in a position to disclose information as investigations were still underway.

“He was electrocuted by a 66KV line and we are in the process of investigating to find out what really happened. We are trying to find out whether he was electrocuted while stealing the copper cables. We are doing the investigations together with the police but I can’t say much at the moment.  Get in touch with me on Friday when we have finalised on the investigation,” said Chinaka.

He said they are yet to ascertain the damages caused by the alleged crime.
Chinaka urged members of the public to desist from stealing copper cables saying the practice retarded the growth of the country’s economy.

“We discourage the stealing of national assets. This is costing the country and the economy. It is also unsafe for members of the public,” said Chinaka.

The news crew visited the scene of the electrocution and found Zesa electricians working on replacing the stolen power cables.
One of the workers said the suspected thief’s body had already been taken away by the police.

“We didn’t find his body as it had already been taken by the police but some copper cables were stolen and we are here to put a new line,” said one of the workers.

In April, Zesa said it lost 30,000km of copper cables valued at nearly $180,000 in the southern region of the country through theft.
Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company, a subsidiary of Zesa has moved to replace copper cables with aluminum ones as a way of curbing vandalism of its infrastructure in a project that started in January.