New breed of Zim professionals

Chris Muronzi - Finweek's Harare correspondent

Harare - A new breed of professionals has emerged in Zimbabwe - those who wait patiently in queues to cash in on cheap products in shops, a state newspaper reported.

The Herald reported that a bunch of unemployed and employed men and women with a little more time on their hands have mastered the art of queuing for basic goods and later sell the products on the thriving black market.

According to The Herald, the group - dubbed as "professional queuers " - is queuing up for cheap goods when deliveries are made and invite friends and relatives to get more goods and later sell on the black market with a ten-fold mark-up.

"Efforts by shops and supermarkets to ration scarce goods to one or two units per customer are circumvented by groups of people who quickly assemble at every shop when items in high demand are delivered.

"Some even go to the extent of phoning their friends and relatives to join the queues, which frequently form when the ordinary consumer has to be at work," reported The Herald.

The paper added: "Through their sheer number, these 'professional queuers' usually manage to grab the bulk of the scarce product and then resell, either to black market dealers or direct to the public."

This comes after President Robert Mugabe's government ordered businesses to slash prices by 50%, accusing them of profiteering through a wave of price increases on hapless consumers.

Government may loosen noose

Mugabe has vowed to leave his price controls and monitoring policy in place but analysts say his government might be loosening up the noose.

The Sunday Mail, another government mouthpiece, on Sunday reported that government must come up with realistic prices to guarantee supplies, reports which analysts interpreted as showing a possible shift on the state's price control policy.

A consumer said: "There should be a distinction between profit making and profiteering. As consumers, we accept that businesses must make profits, but we are against profiteering.

"We would want the government to protect us, but some of the prices which have been set are not viable and this explains why the goods are not available."

Shops empty, black market thrives

The price controls have however done more harm than good as more shops have gone empty.

Basic goods like bread, sugar, meat and even beer have disappeared from shops but are available for much more on the black market.

Mugabe's government has arrested over 7 000 business people since the decree was issued in June while many others are still being arrested.

Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world believed to be above 4 500% while a third of the country's population is facing starvation owing to recurrent droughts and poor output at the newly resettled farms.

- Fin24