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Empty shelves, rationed bread ring alarm bells in Zimbabwe
HARARE, Oct 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – In one of the biggest supermarkets in
Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, cooking oil, rice and Coca-Cola are all out of
stock while a notice on the bread rack tells shoppers they can only buy one
loaf each.
Outside, a small crowd mills around hoping for a delivery of goods that
may never come.
A currency crunch and a new tax on electronic transactions has spawned
fears that Zimbabwe’s wrecked economy is about to endure a fresh bout of
chaos.
“It looks like we are heading back to 2008,” said Pardon Muringani, a
shopper in OK Supermarket, recalling how shops ran out of goods when
hyperinflation peaked, destroying savings and forcing the country to abandon
the Zimbabwe dollar.
“We just hope a solution is found soon, so that we don’t get there,” he
said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over from veteran autocrat Robert Mugabe
last year and won disputed elections in July.
Mnangagwa had campaigned on a pledge to revive the economy, attract
foreign investment and create jobs.
But less than three months after the vote, the dire financial problems of
the Mugabe era have returned to haunt the new leader.
The latest crisis erupted last week when Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube
announced a two-percent tax on all electronic transactions to increase
revenue.
Many Zimbabweans rely on electronic payments as US dollars, which function
as the main currency, are scarce, and the local “bond note” currency is
little trusted.
– President calls for calm –
Mnangagwa urged citizens to stay calm as drivers queued for hours for
rationed petrol and those with money stock-piled any food for sale.
“There is no need to panic. The government is guaranteeing the
availability of all essential commodities including fuel,” he said in a
statement.
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“The road is long, winding and at times bumpy but there is no other way.”
The shortages have created a thriving black market, with a litre of
cooking oil being sold on the street for up to $12 (10.40 euros) instead of
$3.70.
“Measures should be taken. We can’t continue like this,” Yvonne Makoni, a
property consultant, told AFP while waiting for petrol. Often each driver can
fill up with only 20 litres and must pay cash.
A local franchise of Kentucky Fried Chicken has shut its restaurants,
posting signs on the doors saying it was unable to buy meat without US
dollars, while other food outlets have followed suit.
Many pharmacies have also shut. Those still open often cannot offer
essential medicine for chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
“We don’t manufacture many drugs. We have to import these and we need
foreign currency,” Luckymore Bhunu, secretary for the Retail Pharmacists
Association, told AFP.
Many other shops have been closed in the capital and second city Bulawayo
in recent days.
– National strike planned –
The main trade union has called for a national strike on Thursday over the
country’s renewed economic woes — though police have banned marches in
Harare due to a cholera outbreak.
“Price madness: Govt intervenes,” blared the headline in the state-owned
Herald newspaper on Wednesday, with the main article accusing retailers of
triggering stock-piling and shortages by raising prices.
“As a result of lack of confidence, we see panic buying of commodities
including fuel,” Prosper Chitambara, of the Labour and Economic Development
Research Institute of Zimbabwe, told AFP.
“Businesses that need to acquire foreign currency have to go to the black
market where premiums are 200 percent.”
Bond notes were introduced in 2016 — in theory equal to the US dollar,
but they were soon trading at a far weaker rate, and the gap has widened in
recent weeks.
– Unemployment over 90% –
Public anger at the state of the economy was a contributory factor in
November’s military intervention that finally toppled Mugabe, then 93, after
37 years in office.
Mugabe’s reign as the head of the ruling ZANU-PF party was marked by
corruption and mismanagement that led to an exodus of investors, mass
emigration and collapse of many public services.
Unemployment is generally put at over 90 percent, while the size of the
economy has halved since 2000 when many white-owned farms were seized.
“The crisis has gone beyond ZANU-PF’s capacity to (cope),” said Jacob
Mafume, spokesman for the opposition MDC.
“We cannot be silent and pretend all is well while the people endure
incessant suffering.”
BSS/AFP/HR/1130