ZWL18.28/litre for petrol and ZWL17.90/litre to ZWL19.55/litre for diesel in January. The consequence
of fuel hikes is a spiral rise in prices of goods and services as business entities seek to cushion
themselves. Shortages of mealie meal continued in January with the Ministry of Industry and
Commerce putting together a Roller Meal ‘task force’ to ensure the transparent and equitable
distribution of subsidised mealie meal. Even with a ‘task force’ the commodity is still unaffordable for
most people as there seems to be crevices in the system that allow some individuals access to the
commodity at the prescribed subsidised price, after which the price is increased two if not three fold.
The changes in the rainfall patterns and the persistent dry spells are exacerbating the situation as
some crops had already suffered from heat stress; in the midst of a debilitating drought. Ironically,
some parts of Zimbabwe such as Hwange, Gweru, Chegutu and Silobela experienced flash floods
which decimated the few crops that had survived the heat. The mismanagement of drainage systems
in urban areas has always posed a risk of flash floods; drains are usually clogged with refuse and
when it rains there will be limited channels through which the rain can flow.
The collapsing economy did not spare school children and college students as tuition fees went up in
leaps in the majority of schools and institutions of higher learning. In Bulawayo, students at Njube
High School demonstrated after a 478% increase was effected to their school fees. They also raised
concern about the low remuneration for teachers which was negatively impacting on their education.
ZPP recorded numerous cases of school children being turned away from school for non-payment of
school fees.
Zimbabwe’s economic woes are going to persist compounded by the drought and foreign currency
shortages2. The economy continues to self -re-dollarise despite efforts by the government to
encourage the use of the Zimbabwean dollar as the preferred currency of transaction. In his efforts to
stabilise the economy, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube
indicated that government would introduce higher denominations of ZWL10, ZWL20 and ZWL50.
This, however, is likely to fuel inflation as has happened in the past.
2
Financial Gazette, 30 January 2020