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Harare - For the past 15 years, Farai Musoni has always made sure that he goes back to his native Zimbabwe for the festive season.
His home coming, from South Africa, has always been a time to look forward to for his parents and the rest of his siblings.
This is the time that he brings new clothes, good food and lots of drinks.
Working as a shop assistant, Farai cannot spare enough to send anything home on a regular basis, but he always makes sure that he saves enough so he can go home and be with his family during the Christmas period.
“Since the year 2000, I always head back home every Christmas to be with my parents and family. At least by the end of the year I would have saved enough to buy them some groceries and clothes, as well as travel to and from Zimbabwe,” said Farai.
“Unfortunately this year, I won’t be able to make it,” said Farai with sadness.
“The fall of the rand has made it very expensive to go back to Zimbabwe and be with my family. I simply cannot afford the expensive life in Zimbabwe.”
“What has made things worse is the recent decision by the Zimbabwean government to ban or remove several grocery items from the travellers rebate. This means I will be forced to buy these items in Zimbabwe, which will be very expensive.”
The Zimbabwean government recently removed the travellers rebate on grocery items, saying there was no justification for their continued import since the local industry was producing such goods.
Some of the grocery items that were removed from the travellers rebate include mealie-meal, meat, sugar, flour and cooking oil; the list goes on.
For cooking oil, it raised customs duty to 40% and a 25% surtax or $0.50 per litre, whichever is higher.
Although it is true that Zimbabwean companies can now provide adequate supplies for some of the grocery items, prices are still very high compared to those obtained in South Africa.
“For instance, a two litre bottle of coke which I buy for R15 here in South Africa costs US$2.25 (R34) in Zimbabwe.
“Just using that example, it means I have to pay twice as much for goods and services in Zimbabwe, than I pay here,” said Farai.
Customs duty is also levied on selected groceries that include bath and laundry soap, washing powder, toothpaste and petroleum jelly, among others.
“I used to buy all these items here in South Africa and take them home for the festive season, but I cannot buy most of them now without attracting duty,” said Farai.
“I am barely making ends meet here in South Africa and the use of a strong currency in Zimbabwe has made things worse,” he said.
Farai is not the only Zimbabwean in this predicament. South Africa is home millions of Zimbabweans who are now working there. Thousands of them always cross the border back home during the festive season to be with their loved ones.
Others have not returned home for years, but always make sure they send groceries or money back to their parents and relatives.
“I always send my parents enough for their upkeep,” said Kudakwashe Chambati, a mechanical engineer in Pretoria.
“But this year it’s not going to be easy. Although I am going to send them the same amount as last year, they are not going to buy as much as they bought last year,” said Kudakwashe.
“The falling rand and the strengthening of the United States dollar, which is in use there, means they will only buy probably half of what they could buy last year.
“Unfortunately I can’t give them a raise either,” he said.
Over the last couple of years, most Zimbabweans depended on remittances for their sustenance as high unemployment levels in the country have meant rapidly declining disposable incomes for households.
According to a survey titled Making Access Possible, at least 931 000 adults received remittances in 2014. Remittances reached $770m in 2014 from $300m in 2009, with South Africa contributing 70% of the remittances, followed by the UK at 13%.
At least 3.3 million people live outside of Zimbabwe and regularly send home remittances to their relatives.
