THE state-run ZESA Holdings is forking out more than US$60 000 to compensate two minors, who sustained severe electrical burns after coming into contact with low-hanging power cables owing to its employees’ gross negligence in the discharge of their duties.
Bulawayo High Court Judges Justice Evangelista Kabasa and Justice Dube recently ordered Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), a subsidiary of ZESA Holdings, to compensate the two minors aged 11 years and 14 years, after they sustained severe electrical burns owing to gross negligence by the electricity supplier.
The two minors, who are residents of Mangwe in Mangwe Rural District in Matabeleland province, enlisted the services of ZLHR lawyer Prisca Dube to sue ZEDTC after they were electrocuted by some low hanging electricity cables on 18 May 2022.
In the case of the 11 year-old minor, the parents, on the advice of community members, sought the assistance of ZLHR to sue ZETDC and on 14 August 2024, Dube filed summons at Bulawayo High Court, seeking payment of damages after arguing that the state-run power utility’s negligence had resulted in the minor’s electrocution.
On 16 September 2024, ZETDC denied liability for causing injuries to the minor and stated that the amount claimed was exorbitant.
On 15 January 2026, Bulawayo High Court Judge Justice Dube ordered ZETDC to pay US$50 000 as damages to the minor and to do so within two months.
In the case of the 14 year-old minor, he was rushed to St Anne’s Hospital in Brunapeg on 18 May 2022, where he received the initial treatment for electrical burns caused by the electrocution.
However, due to the severity of his injuries, the minor was further referred to seek medical attention at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH), where he was admitted at the state-run hospital and underwent an operation on his right arm and was declared to have a cumulative percentage of disability of 32%.
On 8 August 2024, Dube then filed summons against ZETDC at Bulawayo High Court, wherein she argued that the state-run power utility’s negligence had resulted in the electrocution of the minor and demanded payment of damages amounting to US$52 000 as compensation.
In response to the summons, ZETDC denied liability for causing the minor’s injuries and protested that the amount claimed as payment of damages was exorbitant.
However, on 14 January 2026, ZETDC made an offer for settlement stating that this was the maximum amount covered by its insurance policy, which offer was accepted by the minor’s parents.
On 22 January 2026 Bulawayo High Court Judge Justice Evangelista Kabasa ordered ZETDC to pay the minor US$16 000 within 60 days.
ZLHR assisted the two minors as part of the organisation’s anti-impunity interventions to foster accountability at the country’s supplier of electricity and to deter and discourage acts of human rights violations by state-run institutions.
For several decades, ZLHR has intervened in similar cases of ZESA Holdings’ negligence by suing and obtaining orders for payment of damages on behalf of numerous victims.
ENDS
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