Poor planning by the Zimbabwe government has resulted in the country facing dwindling fuel supplies.
For the last couple of weeks, there have been winding queues countrywide. The most affected are motorists with petrol-driven engines.
At a queue that stretched for a kilometre in Bulawayo’s central business district, Charles Moyo told TimesLIVE on Wednesday morning that he had spent most of his nightqueiing up for fuel.
“I spent the whole night in this queue. It’s now morning I have to go to work so my daughter who just finished exams will come and take over. There’s hope that by midday there will be fuel because this is the only station that has been consistent since the shortages started a few months ago,” said Moyo, a builder by profession.
Moyo is a member of at least three WhatsApp groups that offer updates on the availability of fuel. He revealed that lately, there have been inquiries more than updates.
“Everyone is asking the same question and no one seems to have any answer. When the situation briefly normalised last month many people left (the WhatsApp) groups, however they are now being added back due to desperation,” he said.
Black market dealers have been on the rise selling fuel in hard currencies.
“We smuggle it from Botswana because there is less red tape compared to Beitbridge. We only take dollars, pulas and rands. For a litre of petrol we charge R20,” said a dealer. In SA petrol costs around R15 per litre.
During interview on Tuesday night with a private radio station ZiFM, finance minister Professor Mthuli Ncube revealed that the reason behind the current shortage was due to government’s failure to raise foreign currency on time.
“We are aware of the hitches in the fuel supply on the market and this has to do with timing in terms of payments and supply of the commodity,” he said.
Government sources have disclosed that currently,there was less than a week’s supply of fuel and signs of a serious shortage were already showing with some big service stations in Harare going for days without fuel.
-Photo credit – Reuters
