Beta Holdings seeks dedicated power supply for Shamva plant

BETA Holdings is engaging the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) to connect its aggregate plant (stone crusher) in Shamva to a dedicated power line that is waived from load shedding, chief executive Godfrey Manhambara has said.

'We were connected to an ordinary line that supplies nearby villages and farms and load shedding is affecting operations at our plant,' Manhambara said in an interview last week.

'We are only working during the night because there will be no power during the day. ZETDC is now working on identifying a line that is less affected by load shedding and I hope this will happen very soon. We are happy with the progress made so far.'

Zimbabwe is facing rolling power cuts, sometimes lasting for 18 hours due to low production at the aging Hwange thermal power plant. To mitigate power cuts to productive sectors, ZETDC has dedicated some power lines which are normally waived from load shedding.

BETA, which is also involved in brickmaking, commissioned the US$17 million stone crusher about three years ago in a move meant to diversify the range of its products.

Designed to crush as much as 420 tonnes of rocks per hour, the highly automated plant from South Africa is one of the largest in the country, according to the company.

The resource claims cover about 400 hectares and have a life span of 200 years at when the plant is operating at its designed capacity.

Apart from brick division and the aggregate plant, BETA also incorporates BETA Concrete. BETA Bricks is the first brick manufacturer in Zimbabwe to receive international certification for integrated ISO management systems:

The company offers a range of clay bricks ranging from the popular common brick and over 21 different types of face brick.