Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, on Monday predicted chaos as a result of the government’s clampdown on the business community, which has seen the prices of many goods more than halved and over 1 300 business people arrested.
The price cuts, ordered on June 26, are seen as a desperate attempt to deal with inflation that has spun out of control. The sudden drop in prices has sparked panic buying, stampedes and near-riots by impoverished Zimbabweans.
Police said 1 328 businesses charged with failing to heed government orders to cut prices of goods by 50% were fined between Z$70-million and Z$100-million (US$4 600 to US$6 600).
Business owners say the price cuts prevent their operations from being viable. Some stores have been forced to close their doors with no deliveries of basic foods.
Police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka said on Monday the crackdown was ”not a gimmick and will be sustained at all costs to stop consumers being ripped off”, state radio said.
Tsvangirai, whose party is engaged in secret talks in South Africa with President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party to end the economic and political crisis at home, said the blitz on shops and businesses was an election gimmick that would cause serious problems for ordinary Zimbabweans.
”We are now approaching another election and Mugabe is on us again,” Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader, said in reference to presidential and parliamentary elections due next March.
”Mugabe and Zanu-PF have gone full scale for the business community, pursuing a populist policy against the national interest,” the Movement for Democratic Change leader said in a statement, adding: ”Mugabe and Zanu-PF must never be allowed to get away with his dangerous experiments that impoverish us further.”
‘Short honeymoon’
The clampdown, which has Mugabe’s blessing, has seen teams of police and state-appointed price inspectors raiding shops and ordering them to slash prices to those quoted on or before June 18.
Police have ordered shop owners to sell goods at half price in many cases, leaving them with huge losses and unable to replace their stock.
Goods like bread, cement and fuel have now all but disappeared from the formal market and reappeared on the black market.
Tsvangirai warned on Monday that the low prices would be a ”short honeymoon” causing greater hardship in the long-run.
Already supermarket shelves throughout the country are fast emptying of basics. Economists predict it will be difficult for urban dwellers to find food and fuel by midweek.
”The poor cannot afford the goods sold on the black market,” Tsvangirai said.
He urged Zimbabweans to unite and oppose Mugabe’s government.
”We must mobilise ourselves and defend our businesses, our property and our rights,” said Tsvangirai.
Among businessmen arrested during the weekend were top executives of Edgars, a leading clothing and fashion retailer, and supermarket and gas-station managers.
Also taken into custody were Michael Fowler and Zed Koudanaris, directors of the main food distributor and fast food chain in Zimbabwe, and Gavin Sainsbury, chief executive of the country’s biggest producer of pork products.
Fowler and Koudanaris pioneered popular branded bakery, pizza and take-out franchises in Zimbabwe, including Nando’s, known for its chicken dishes.
Official inflation is running at 4 500%, the highest in the world, though independent financial institutions estimate real inflation is closer to 9 000%.
Meanhwile, reports of a plan to rescue Zimbabwe’s freefalling economy by pegging its dollar to the South African rand are unfounded, according to government officials.
Sources said on Monday they had no knowledge of any such plans.
If anything was being planned to help Zimbabwe survive its economic meltdown, official statements would have been forthcoming, they said.
The Sunday Independent reported on the weekend that the Southern African Development Community was putting together a plan to peg the rand to the Zimbabwe dollar.
According to the paper, the multilateral monetary area of South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland would be extended to Zimbabwe. — Sapa-dpa, AP