By Anthony Mazikana
Vandalism is a serious problem in contemporary societies (Garland, 2011).
The cost of vandalism varies from direct costs to indirect costs (Forsyth, 2015).
Vandalism as a social problem can restrict people’s freedom in community participation.
It can generate considerable fear within the community superceding national security, employment, cost of living, poverty and health (National Crime Prevention Institute 2013, Muncie & Mc Laughlin 2012). Global trends of vandalism indicate that vandalism rates have been on the increase.
This trend is, however, not replicated in all regions of the world, though crime and vandalism are typically more severe in urban areas and is compounded by their rapid growth (UNHabitat, 2017).
Global report on settlements (UN-Habitat, 2017) also addressed vandalism as one of the threats to the safety and security of organisations in towns and cities and reported that the fear of vandalism is pervasive and has affected companies in both developed and developing countries.
The level and intensity of vandalism can vary from nation to nation and from organisation to organisation and no country has remained unaffected.
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However, vandalism crimes are serious threats to companies in developing countries, while these countries face population explosion and accelerated urbanisation.
In developing countries, they have limited resources to invest in modernisation of their criminal justice system, underpaid police officers, lack of equipment, overcrowding prisons and courts, (Dodds and Pippard, 2015). The growing crime rates such as vandalism pose formidable challenges for governments in ensuring the safety and security of the citizens and the quality of their lives.
The seriousness of vandalism in developing countries as a developmental problem make particular demands on the governments which are not faced by most of the developed countries (United Nations, 2010).
ZETDC is a subsidiary of Zesa Holdings the electricity utility service provider in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), belongs to a diversified group of companies whose core business is electricity generation, transmission and distribution in Zimbabwe.
The Electricity Amendment Act Number 3 of the year 2003 provided for the setting-up of a company to hold shares of the state in the successor companies of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, which company was registered under the Companies Act (Chapter 24:03) as Zesa Holdings (Private) Limited.
The successor companies that comprise the Zesa Holdings Group of companies are Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC), Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), and six Zesa Enterprises and Powertel Communications units. Each of the successor companies is incorporated under the Companies Act (Chapter 24:03) and has its own board of directors appointed by Zesa holdings (Private) Limited as the shareholder.
Zesa Holdings (Private) Limited is the Holding company and is also run by a board of directors.
The company is wholly owned by the government of Zimbabwe.
ZETDC is a subsidiary of Zesa Holding (Pvt) Ltd that is involved in the business of bulk purchasing of electricity from power producers locally and regionally, transporting it to load centres across the country for distribution and retail to end-user customers.
Its major functions as highlighted on the Zesa website (2012) include: electricity retailing, network planning, development, operation and maintenance of the transmission infrastructure within Zimbabwe, operations such as bulk power purchases and system planning for long-term capacity.
ZETDC has its head office in Harare and five regional offices in Harare (Harare region), Bulawayo (Western region), Mutare (Eastern region), Gweru (Southern region) and Chinhoyi (Northern region). Each regional office has several district offices spread throughout the region stationed in city centres.
ZETDC has been affected by vandalism and this has been affecting the organisational performance.
l This is an extract from a research paper by Anthony Mazikana titled An Exploration of Strategies to Curb Vandalism in Zesa: A Case Study of ZETDC.
