The cash crisis in the country is worsening with pensioners
being the hardest hit by the prevailing situation.
Cash shortages have forced some people to sleep outside
banks hoping to be served first due to long queues. Some who have difficulties getting cash from
banks rely on traders who charge premiums of up to 40 percent.
Mobile money agents and those connected to people who have
access to money are mainly involved in the business of selling cash.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) introduced new $5 and $2
notes and $2 coins to ease shortages of physical cash, but accessing the money
in banks remains a challenge, with some people claiming that bank workers were
diverting cash to street dealers.
Government has since said an additional $500 million in
notes and coins will be injected into the economy by June. For now, people are having a hard time getting cash.
A Chronicle news
crew yesterday went out and spoke to a number of people queuing at banks who
narrated their challenges in accessing their money.
“Goods are slightly cheaper when you buy in cash from the
street and when paying bus fare. I am a pensioner and I spent over 35 years in
service. I was contributing my pension money to prepare for my retirement but
now I live like a person who was disorganised and did not make preparations for
retired life. It is very difficult. I live in Kezi,” said a man who only
identified himself as Mr D Jiyane.
A nurse at a local hospital, Barbra Munyemba (53), who was
trying to get cash at CABS along Jason Moyo between 9th and 10th Avenues said
she sometimes has to be in the queue as early as 5AM.
She said despite the long lines she queues for cash because
she needs the money to travel to work and some retailers charge extra when she
wants to pay using Eco-Cash.
“I have no choice but to queue because I need cash to
travel to work and I also need cash to buy mealie meal and basic foodstuffs
from informal traders because they are cheaper than the big supermarkets,” said Mrs Munyemba.
Ms Thandekile Ncube (57) of Kenilworth, who had been in the
queue for more than six hours, said her worst nightmare when in bank queues was
accessing public toilets when nature calls.
“We are human beings and when nature calls, we must act.
Banks offer us no public facilities and as old people we take medication that
makes us frequent the toilets. As you see us here, we are likely to spend the
night in these ques, already it is midday but there is no communication,” she
said.
An 82-year-old man, who did not want to be identified, said
he had been in town since 4.30AM looking for money because he needed cash to
avoid bank charges when swiping.
“I came into town at about four in the morning to queue for
money. I started at the ZB Bank branch in town where I was told they did not
have cash and I decided to walk to the branch in Belmont to try my luck, only
to be told they did not have money as well. I need cash to buy small food items
like vegetables from informal trades who do not take Eco-cash or swipe because
I incur high bank charges when I swipe in supermarkets,” he said.
A retired educator, who only preferred to be identified as
Ms Ncube (75) from Mahatshula suburb, said she now spends most of her time at
her rural homestead in Lower Gweru, but encounters hardships in accessing her
pension.
“I served in the ministry of education for 40 years. In
2008, we lost our savings. Now with the new currency, it is happening again.
Our pension payouts were more stable during the US dollar era. I want to get my
money in cash because in Lower Gweru there is no swipe facility. Here in the
city, there are $20 bank charges per swipe transaction. They further corrode my
meagre pension. Imagine when I want to do three different transactions, for
bill payments, groceries and at the pharmacies. I have since cancelled my
landline subscription at home and rely on the cellphone, which is mostly for
receiving calls,” she said.
Another pensioner,
Mr Stephen Mthunzi decried the treatment that senior citizens get from banks as
compared with his experience in the past.
“We as old people
use to get preferential treatment but now. I must wait in line and fight for a
place with the youths. It’s not easy,” he said.
Wishmore Mamvura (23) said he was able to get cash from CBZ
bank after queuing outside the bank from three in the morning so he can use the
cash to travel to work and purchase goods from informal traders.
“I was able to get cash today because I made sure to come
to the bank early in the morning. I prefer to use cash over swiping because
foodstuffs are cheaper from the vendors that sell outside compared to the
supermarkets,” he said. Chronicle
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