The former Minister of Primary and Secondary Education (Government of National Unity Era) David Coltart has posted a picture showings scores of people and captioned that they were waiting to buy mealie-meal.
Coltart claims that the people were in Magwegwe, a suburb in Bulawayo the second largest city in Zimbabwe.
Posting on Twitter, Coltart said:
Magwegwe North this morning 100s of people waiting to buy mealie meal, no social distancing, people shaking hands. Govt set price for mealie meal is 70ZWL, black market of the same product is 150+ZWL. Residents were told sale will start at 9 am, an hour later no one has bought.
The development happened hours before President Emmerson Mnangagwa extended the national coronavirus lockdown to the 3rd of May. The lockdown that had been imposed on the 30th of March was due to expire on Sunday night.
Lockdown regulations state that the citizenry should confine themselves stay at home and also should exercise social distancing.
Although the president clearly stated that members of the public are allowed to access essential services including food and health, the picture is confirmation that it is difficult to effectively implement the lockdown because the country has an acute economic and humanitarian crisis.
More: David Coltart