Published by the government of Zimbabwe
30 July 2007
opinion
Harare — While the price freeze has been remarkably effective it has led to shortages of some goods.
In some cases, such as bread, demand has risen since more people can now afford to buy the product leading to shortages even though most bakeries have not cut production and some have even raised it.
Then there is the problem over products, such as meat, where the shortages arise from the reluctance by the primary producers, notably the small-scale farmers, to sell at a loss.
Beef was seen by the Cabinet taskforce as the most popular product and as one that set benchmark prices. It was also the product whose prices were rising most dramatically.
The basic problem in this case was that processors slashed the price offered to farmers to far below reasonable levels as they battled to retain their margins.
Now the Cold Storage Company is prepared to pay a far fairer price and is prepared, like the private abattoirs used to do, to pay spot cash. We hope farmers will respond and that the CSC can start to produce adequate supplies.
As we have argued before, the private abattoirs should be allowed to resume production but only if they agree to pay farmers at least as much as the CSC and charge consumers no more than the CSC. A third problem is the black market.
As anyone who passes by a supermarket can see when essential goods in short supply, such as sugar, cooking oil or washing soap arrive, long queues instantly form.
It is clear that there are people who stake out supermarkets waiting for such deliveries, and buy as much as the shop management will allow.
Most managers are ready to ration, but they cannot refuse to sell to anyone in the queue, even if they suspect the buyer intends to resell as soon as they leave the shop.
And most of these people are prepared to resell, even on the pavement outside the store, for at least twice what they have just paid. It is no secret that much of what the professional queuers buy ends up on the black market.
The police are now starting to target this market. We hope they will intensify their blitz against them.
The main licensed retail trade is now largely compliant with the regulations. The odd product may not have a price tag, or the tag has fallen off, or one or two items may have been missed in the exercise to freeze prices at June 18 levels.
But it is evident in the court cases over the past week or two where major chain stores are involved that negligence rather than deliberate flouting of the law fits the facts.
In the black market there is deliberate flouting of laws.
For several essential goods the ordinary person can only buy a scarce product if they happen to be in the shop when delivery is made.
Otherwise the black market barons, who often happen to be in the right place at the right time will snatch the lion's share.
Since conditional selling, or keeping scarce goods for regular customers, is against the law the only way to combat this problem is to hit the black market.
We hope the police and the taskforce will intensify operations in that quarter as ensuring compliance in the formal sector becomes more of a case of auditing largely legal operations.
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