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THEY say the early bird catches the fattest worm, but for many depositors, trying to withdraw their hard-earned money has become a nightmare.
Despite making it to the bank as early as 6am, 30-year-old Mollyn Munda’s hopes of getting money were receding. Other early birds had arrived at the bank before her and she was number
3 478. "I have been in the queue since 6am, hoping to get my money early, but it seems, it will take more days for the queues to end," she said. At ATMs in First Street, the queue tells a picture of people who are "waiting for God". Yesterday morning saw the longest queues the city’s dwellers have ever woken up to. Queues stretched for hundreds of metres and banking institutions were swamped. Almost a week after introduction of the new $10 000 and $20 000 notes, the situation appeared to have spun out of control and there were many angry and frustrated depositors. Apart from having to wait for hours to withdraw money from banks, depositors were seeing red at the charges banks were levying depositors. These ranged from $10 000 to $15 000 levied for each transaction. The charges were gobbling up depositors’ balances. In some cases banks were allowing withdrawals of $10 000 or $20 000. If a person had less than $10 000 in their account, they were unable to withdraw, or if a person wanted to withdraw $17 000, they were told they could only access $10 000. John Mangudya, president of the Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe last week said the bank charges had been necessitated by two developments – the inflationary environment and because banks were now paying their salaries on a weekly basis. At times the money runs out but the people are patient, not by design. They need the money to buy basic goods. "I will wait until I get my money," said a man who identified himself as Baba Mike. The above scenario illustrates the hardships Zimbabweans are enduring in order to access their hard-earned money at the banks, notwithstanding Monday’s upward review of the maximum cash withdrawal limits. But depositors have found another obstacle in the way to accessing their money from banks: extortionate bank charges. On Monday the central bank increased the withdrawal limits to $20 000. In addition, it introduced higher denomination notes - $10 000 and $20 000 in a bid to quell the cash crisis running for the third successive month since a German company, Giesecke & Devrient, stopped supplying to Zimbabwe paper bank notes. Many had hoped that Monday’s review of the withdrawal limits and the new notes would bring back some cheers on the faces but Munda is devastated. "I need money to buy groceries and I was hoping that if I got $20 000, I will be able to buy at least cooking oil," she said. But while banks had to wait until in the afternoon to get their allocations from the central bank, the new notes were already on the streets on Monday morning.
Parallel market dealers were awash with cash mopping up the foreign currency.
"We now know who is feeding money to the parallel market," said an irate account holder at the ZABG Samora Machel branch. Another one said: "The central bank has been denying that it is buying foreign currency on the parallel market. Where is the money held by the runners coming from?" In one queue at Karigamombe, people debated the rationale behind putting out notes without security features. The new $20 000 note does not have an RBZ watermark found on all notes, raising fears that the market could be flooded with counterfeit notes. "This money was printed on bond paper," one irate depositor said. "Where else in the world have you ever seen notes which look as if they have been in circulation for the past 10 years? This money already appears as if it has been there from the beginning of the world," an elderly woman interjected. Anyone who has managed to withdraw the money will face another hurdle: the rising prices of basic goods and services. In the past week, prices have shot up beyond the reach of many, piling pressure on the already battered citizens. Cooking oil which was being sold at $5 000 a two-litre two weeks ago recorded a 400% increase to $25 000 on Friday. A bar of washing soap was going for $7 000 on Friday, up from $1 000 the previous week. A one-way trip to town which cost $700 on Tuesday had lept to $3 000 on Friday. Analysts say only a political settlement will resolve the country’s problems. Despite signing a power sharing deal, the three political parties - Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC-M are bogged down in the allotment of Cabinet ministries. Cash transactions have attracted lower prices as compared to cheques and point of sales transactions, increasing demand for cash.
More than a week ago four depositors sought an order declaring cash withdrawal limits illegal.
The four- Rodgers Chigwededza, Tinashe Gotora, Jackson Mabota and Precious Mwateyeni - filed papers in the High Court seeking an order allowing them to get their cash on demand, as is the practice world over. They argued withdrawal limits violated their constitutional rights and also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Alec Muchadehama, the lawyer for the four said the crux of the order sought by his clients was to have the withdrawal limits declared unlawful. The applicants seek, as a matter of urgency, an order that nullifies RBZ governor Gideon Gono’s limits and at the same time stop him from imposing new limits on their bank withdrawals. The applicants also want the order to remain in force notwithstanding the noting of an appeal. "Respondents cannot just impose withdrawal limits which are not based on any sound or rational economic considerations. I submit therefore that the imposing of such withdrawal limits by the Respondents be declared unlawful. I further submit that the limits are a blatant infringement of applicants’ various constitutional rights," said one of the applicants. He identified these as the right to life, protection against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and the right to be heard before administrative actions are taken. By Ndamu Sandu & John Mokwetsi
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