This saw Eskom immediately releasing to the local national grid 400 megawatts — prompting Zesa to ease its punishing power schedule, which will now see business getting more supplies and residences spending fewer hours without electricity.
"I can confirm that we started receiving power last night (Thursday) from Eskom, after payment modalities were worked out by both utilities.
"This power supply situation puts predictability to load shedding and largely puts all customers in stage one load shedding.
"It also allows the utility to prioritise the productive sectors to ensure the economy functions.
"I also want to add that this power is coming at a great cost, and thereby urge all customers to pay their bills to ensure that the prevailing electricity supply situation is sustained," Zesa spokesperson Fullard Gwasira told the Daily News. Zesa currently owes Eskom and Mozambique's Hidroele´ctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) millions of dollars.
The national power company has been failing to generate sufficient power for the country, after water levels declined precipitously at Kariba Dam, due to the ravaging drought which was experienced in the sub-region, as well as chronic mismanagement.
A survey by the Daily News yesterday showed that most Zimbabweans and businesses woke up with "the unusual surprise" of having power, and for longer periods too.
Zimbabwe has been experiencing crippling power deficits on the back of the country's escalating economic rot, and the attendant acute shortage of foreign currency needed to import electricity from neighbouring countries.
The debilitating electricity cuts have forced the closure of some firms, while others have had to cut production hours. Most users were having to do without electricity for long periods of up to 18 hours, or more in some instances.