South Africa (SA) stopped supplying electricity to its northern neighbour Zimbabwe ?several months ago? the chief executive officer of state electricity firm Eskom told Reuters yesterday. Jacob Maroga said there was no political motive behind the shift. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has long been criticised by a string of Western countries, particularly after the opposition pulled out of a June presidential election run-off citing violence. ?It is simply a contractual issue,? he told Reuters in an interview in London. ?They had been paying for their electricity in advance. They simply stopped making new orders.?

Some Mugabe critics had also attacked SA President Mbeki, saying he was too soft on Zimbabwe and that SA electricity exports were helping him stay in power. Maroga said Zimbabwe had shifted?two or three years ago? to paying for its electricity in advance, but earlier this year it had stopped making new orders. There was no outstanding debt. Even at the peak of SA exports to Zimbabwe, he said they had never been supplying more than 10 percent of their neighbour's electricity needs.

Zimbabwe imports more than a third of its electricity needs. Eskom said it believed Zimbabwe was continuing to pay for electricity imports from other regional countries that could include Mozambique, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Botswana, but the latter's government has been particularly critical of Mugabe since the election. Zimbabwe's own power infrastructure is seen in decline against a backdrop of economic crisis and increasing political isolation. African leaders have been pushing for Mugabe and opposition leader Tsvangirai to negotiate a national unity government.

Negotiators from Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC have been meeting in the SA capital Pretoria, with Mbeki trying to resolve ongoing serious divisions between the two. SA has also suffered serious energy problems, with a string of generation problems in January sparking days of power cuts including to the key mining sector. Eskom says it intends to boost capacity and make efficiency savings to prevent a repeat.