Anyone refusing to accept ZiG payments or who uses inflated exchange rates, including any ruling party member in business, will be arrested and prosecuted, Zanu PF national political commissar, Cde Munyaradzi Machacha, said at the weekend.
Speaking in Bulawayo on Saturday, Cde Machacha said there would be no sacred cows in the application of the law as he charged party officials to lead by example.
"For Zanu PF business people, I would say 'lead by example'. If you are truly Zanu PF you should work for the success of ZiG and Government policies because a stable currency will benefit all of us," he said in an interview.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced the ZiG, which is backed by gold and foreign exchange reserves, in early April to replace the Zimbabwe dollar.
Since its introduction, the ZiG has remained stable against the US dollar, contributing to price stability and increasing the buying power for consumers, amid widespread endorsement by economic stakeholders.
However, some pockets of resistance still remain, with consumers raising concern over unscrupulous businesses, which either do not accept ZiG or inflate foreign currency prices for goods and services to justify higher local currency costs. This is also done to avoid compliance with the official exchange rate, which has been hovering at slightly below ZIG13,5 against the US dollar.
In some cases, traders will pretend that their swipe machines have no network to facilitate local currency trading, while demanding US dollar banknotes for any purchase.
Others, especially in the informal sector and food outlets in cities, openly refuse to transact using the ZiG, and would indirectly force consumers to buy extra items they do not need under the guise of not having change.
Members of the public have said some businesses owned by senior ruling party members were also caught up in the scam, and accuse them of sabotaging efforts to stabilise the economy.
"The ZiG will benefit the community and the consumers. It will benefit the business people and will make our economy stronger," said Cde Machacha.
"So, we really must encourage discipline and ethical conduct from everyone, including Zanu PF members. Anyone who is doing it is certainly fighting what the party and leadership of the party are trying to build and must be punished like anyone else.
"They must be arrested if they do not obey the instructions and the law. They must be arrested just like anyone else."
His sentiments come at a time when the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has established a hotline and WhatsApp number, where members of the public can report business operators who are rejecting the local currency or charging above the official exchange rates.
The FIU encouraged the public to use the hotline and WhatsApp platforms to report those rejecting the local currency and those trading above the official rate.
"Please report traders who are refusing to accept ZiG or are exceeding the official ZiG/US$ exchange rate to the Financial Intelligence Unit on Hotline and WhatsApp numbers: 0714039897," said the FIU in a statement.
The FIU has since January already frozen bank accounts for 522 business operators and individuals found to be violating the exchange regulations, while 140 companies and individuals have been charged severe civil penalties as part of an ongoing clampdown on those who sabotage the economy.
Of late the FIU has been focusing on those who move large sums of money using multiple bank cards, while accounts that are linked to bank cards that are being repeatedly used to make purchases in shops in patterns that are inconsistent with normal shopping behaviour are being flagged.
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Often these cards are used by middlemen, who accost customers in and outside shops, asking them to use their ZiG cards to make purchases while they give the middlemen the agreed US dollar equivalent, said the FIU.
The surveillance also targets manufacturers and suppliers that are refusing the ZiG, which has seen compliance levels increasing, especially in the formal sector.
Government in May promulgated Statutory Instrument 81A of 2024 penalising the flouting of the exchange rate.
Under these regulations, individuals and businesses who would be found charging goods beyond the RBZ gazette exchange rate would be charged a minimum civic penalty ZiG200 000, and if the amount in question is more than that then the actual amount will be charged as the penalty.
