Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THE Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission Development Company’s (ZETDC) going concern status is in huge doubt following revelations that current liabilities exceed assets by a whooping ZW$24,5 billion.
The dire situation contained in the organisation’s report prepared by the Acting Auditor General, Rheah Kujinga reveals that the Company incurred an operating loss before tax for the year ended December 31, 2021 of ZWL 816.02 million (2020: ZWL25.9 billion).
”The Company’s current liabilities exceeded its current assets by ZWL 24.5 billion (2020: ZWL 47.5 billion) as at December 31, 2021. ZETDC defaulted on repayments of its foreign loans which have not been rescheduled.
“These conditions indicate the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” said the report.
The report established that the company did not have a client payments system interfacing with the banks.
As a result, there were payments amounting to ZWL 793.4 million processed by the bank that were not allocated to the respective customer accounts for which payments were made. In addition, there were variances noted between some customer accounts and the aging analysis.
The Company was not remitting the rural electrification levy to the Rural Electrification Fund (REF). REF levy outstanding as at December 31, 2021 amounted to ZWL 4,3 billion (2020: ZWL 1.8 billion).
Assessments also showed that ZETDC had an ageing motor vehicle fleet experiencing frequent breakdowns.
“As a result, there was a shortage of operational vehicles to enable staff to perform their duties. For instance, some meters were not read for a period of more than twelve (12) months. This was contrary to the Company policy which requires meter readings to be done every three (3) months as the clients are billed using estimates,” the report said.
The AG also wrapped the power authority for failing to contain electricity losses and leakages within the acceptable ranges saying the company was incurring transmission losses ranging from 1% to 5% above the stipulated limit of 14% on units of electricity sold versus the units of electricity purchased, a development which could result in possible leakages due to irregular connections.
Among the cocktail of management irregularities rocking the power utility, the report also revealed that ZETDC was not reviewing pay slips and payroll summaries.
“As a result, the Company processed both fuel and an electricity allowance to employees contrary to its human resources policy, which stipulates that an employee is entitled to one of these benefits, not both.
“Management should review pay slips and payroll summaries before payments are made,” the report added.
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