The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Ndavaningi Mangwana said some “unscrupulous” banks are pressuring civil servants to liquidate their US$75 tax-free COVID-19 allowances instead of giving them cards to use for buying groceries in supermarkets.
The official position is that civil servants and government pensioners, who were offered tax-free US$30 COVID-19 allowances, receive cards from banks which they will then use to transact at selected businesses. Mangwana tweeted:
Some unscrupulous banks are impelling civil servants to liquidate their US$75 within the bank, in the process shamelessly mopping up forex from poor workers. Civil servants are supposed to be given cards which they can use in participating retail outlets as they please.
In response to Mangwana’s tweet, opposition activist Thandekile Moyo called for the government’s information Czar to respect citizens. She said:
Respect us, Nick! USD Domestic Nostro?? What part of domestic says forex? Forex is foreign currency, Not domestic currency, It is money from a foreign land, Not generated domestically, It is money that can be used outside the country, Not locally only, This is crap!