Bond Notes, Ecocash Rejected In Shops

Mangwe-Plumtree Business Association chairperson Mr. Golden Dube has said that most grocery shops located close to neighboring countries’ borders of Botswana and South Africa were now rejecting RTGS dollar selling their products in foreign currency only.

Dube said that the shops are rejecting payment in RTGS dollars (bond notes and mobile phone transactions) preferring to sell their products in foreign currency. Dube said:

Most of the shops in rural areas are no longer accepting bond notes as payment. Most of the shops are owned by South Africa-based Zimbabwean businesspersons and these instruct their employees not to accept the local currency and only sell products in rand, pula or the US (United States dollar). This has left communities in a predicament as foreign currency is very difficult to source.

He added that the situation is now fully entrenched to an extent that communal farmers are now demanding to be paid in foreign currency for their livestock. He urged the government to quicken the process of reintroducing a local currency as the RTGS dollar continues to lose value against the United States Dollar

More: Sunday News