Empty shelves as Zimbabwe meltdown bites
Others shut up shop rather than trade amid wild price instability
A 330ml can of Coca-Cola costs R8 at Makro in SA. In Zimbabwe, the same product costs anything from $1 (R14) to four times more if one pays for it by card. And that's if you can get your hands on a can - as Zimbabwe's economic meltdown worsens, even Coke is in short supply. A disparity in the pricing of goods depending on the form of payment used - whether it is US dollars, bond notes or by card - a runaway black market, companies squeezed by foreign currency shortages and retailers bearing the brunt of price increases will be a litmus test for President Emmerson Mnangagwa during his first 100 days in office. Mnangagwa so far has said that some pain will be "necessary" to lift the country out of its years in the economic doldrums. Compounding the situation over the past two weeks has been a shortage of goods such as fuel, cooking oil, sugar and medicines. At the heart of the latest crisis is the shortage of foreign currency that has worsened sharply. Remarking on the wave of shortag...
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