SA man held in Moz for sabotage on Cahora Bassa

MAPUTO – Four foreign nationals, including a South African, have been arrested for allegedly trying to sabotage a hydro-electric dam, Mozambique police said yesterday.

Pedro Cossa, national police spokesperson, told reporters in Maputo at a weekly briefing that a South African, a Botswanan, a German and a Portuguese national were arrested. The four had allegedly attempted to put a corrosive chemical in the turbines of the Cahora Bassa hydro-electric dam on the Zambezi River. Cossa said police had confiscated 500kg of the yet to be identified corrosive substance. ‘The suspects were caught putting the substance into the dam’s turbines,’ said Cossa. No further details were given and investigations were underway. He did not reveal the names of those detained. Cahora Bassa, which produces 2 075MW short of its potential of 14 000MW of power is touted as one of the solutions to the power crisis in the Southern African Development Community region. The dam supplies power to South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi. There are plans to connect Botswana, Tanzania and Swaziland. The dam was built by the colonial Portuguese government in 1974 and in November 2007, ownership of the dam was transferred from Portuguese control to the Mozambican government. – Nampa-Sapa