Published by the government of Zimbabwe
19 August 2008
Bulawayo — LONG-DISTANCE bus operators, particularly those plying the Harare-Bulawayo route, have joined the foreign currency craze, with some demanding as much as 120 rand per trip.
The transporters revealed yesterday that they were charging fares in foreign currency or the Zimbabwe dollar equivalent at the parallel market. This has made travelling a nightmare.
It is illegal to peg fares and prices in foreign currency without the authority of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
A snap survey yesterday showed that the Harare-Bulawayo trip now costs almost the same amount as a journey to South Africa.
The Bulawayo-Johannesburg trip, a distance of 800km, costs about R290. The distance between Bulawayo and Harare is 440km.
When this reporter visited Renkini Long-Distance Bus Terminus yesterday, most buses and commuter omnibuses that ply the Harare-Bulawayo route were charging about R120, 110 pula or $12 trillion.
Touts and conductors at the terminus defended charging in foreign currency, arguing that the Zimbabwe dollar was tumbling daily, if not hourly.
"Charging using the Zimbabwe dollar is not profitable," said a conductor who only identified himself as George.
He said they accepted passengers who paid fares in foreign currency or the Zimbabwe dollar equivalent.
"Tomorrow (today) we will be charging $15 trillion to get to Harare and the fare might go up again any time soon," said George.
Many would-be travellers complained that the fares in foreign currency or the Zimbabwe dollar equivalent on the parallel market were not affordable.
"The amount is just way beyond my reach. I cannot afford to travel to Harare.
"We are living in Zimbabwe but are expected to pay in foreign currency just to get to Harare, a Zimbabwean city," bemoaned Mr Samuel Zaranyika.
He appealed to the relevant authorities to intervene as the unscrupulous bus conductors and touts' demand for payment in foreign currency was unreasonable and illegal.
"The touts are a menace because they are the ones that usually peg prices for the trips so that they get some money out of it. I appeal to the authorities to deal with these conductors and touts because they are the ones who are fuelling price increases by charging us in foreign currency," he said.
In response, a prominent Harare-based bus operator, Mr James Chiyangwa, attributed the resort to charging fares in foreign currency to the ever-ballooning cost of maintaining buses.
He said service providers were charging in foreign currency.
"Spares are not readily available and those that have the spares charge us in foreign currency. We are also buying fuel on the black market in United States dollars," claimed Mr Chiyangwa.
A trip to Harare from Bulawayo by train in sleeper class costs about $329 (revalued), far much lower than the foreign currency amount charged by road transporters.
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