Residents in Bulawayo and Matabeleland North provinces reportedly stampeded this Monday to buy mealie-meal following the reduction of the commodity’s price by some supermarkets.
The development comes after the government reinstated the subsidy on maize which Finance Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube had recently removed causing prices to dramatically jump up.
The Chronicle reports that a 10kg bag of roller meal was being sold at $50and 20kg bag at $100 down from between $100 and $250 respectively.
The publication also reports that some outlets, like Greens Supermarket, were yesterday selling a 10kg bag for $38.
The development was confirmed by Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Minister, Richard Moyo, said retailers had started selling subsidised mealie-meal in the province. Moyo said:
The price of mealie meal has been reduced to $50 now and this will greatly cushion ordinary people in terms of food shortages.
Meanwhile, prices of other commodities are continuously going up mainly due to the shedding of the value of the local currency against other currencies.
Businesses argue that they need the scarce foreign currency to import goods into the country, unfortunately, with the local currency losing value, they have to increase prices of their commodities to be able to buy foreign currency.
More: The Chronicle