Zim clashes over fuel hikes
A three-day stayaway called by the country’s largest labour union‚ the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions‚ descended into clashes between police and demonstrators in Harare and Bulawayo on Monday.
This comes after the government more than doubled the price of fuel in a bid to improve supplies as the country battles its worst fuel shortages in a decade.
Initially commuters went about their business in Harare‚ with shops and schools opening as usual.
The only unusual sight in the city centre was the closing of roads near the court precinct‚ where a ceremony to mark the official opening of the 2019 legal year was scheduled.
But by mid-morning‚ heightened tensions in the townships forced schools and some businesses in the two cities’ CBD areas to close.
Army helicopters hovered over Epworth‚ a poor suburb in the east of Harare‚ after protesters barricaded roads with stones.
Police also clashed with protesters in Mabvuku‚ Kuwadzana and Chitungwiza as tyres were burnt and roads barricaded.
The police fired teargas canisters and water cannon at the crowds.
Images shared widely on social media showed large groups of protesters singing in solidarity and barricading roads.
One video showed CCTV footage of protesters looting a Choppies supermarket, reportedly in Mabvuku, a high density suburb in eastern Harare.
In Bulawayo‚ a bank teller at an FBC branch in the city centre said it had closed as it was unsafe to continue operating.
“Riot police are dispersing people and we have just had to close the bank.
“The situation is not safe‚” he said.
Images of military police patrolling the CBD in Bulawayo were also extensively shared on social media.
Parents who had dropped off their children at private schools were called to collect them.
The private Dominican Convent was among the schools that closed‚ after opening earlier.
A pupil at the school said she had to use a different route to get home‚ because transport was not available.
Commuter bus operators have hiked fares to cushion themselves against the fuel price hike which caused the protests.
“We have suffered enough,” author Philani Nyoni, who was part of the protest in Bulawayo, said.
“The government is now aware that we are not happy with their stupid policies like the fuel price increase,” Nyoni said, calling on President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is on a tour of Europe, to return home to “sort out things”.
Another Bulawayo protester, Mthandazo Moyo, 22, said: “We want Mnangagwa to know our displeasure in his failure
“Mugabe was evil but he listened,” he said, referring to former autocratic and long-time ruler Robert Mugabe, who was ousted in November 2017.
Residents in Epworth on Monday woke up to find boulders blocking roads and the protesters set ablaze a tent at a police post.
“It’s tense since this morning [Monday],” Epworth resident Nhamo Tembo said.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been in a slump for more than a decade, with cash shortages, high unemployment and recently a scarcity of staples such as bread and cooking oil.
The hike was announced at the weekend by Mnangagwa.
The fuel pump price increased to $3.31/litre (R45.93/l) on Sunday‚ with diesel rising to $3.11/l (R43.16/l).
Mnangagwa said his government was aware of certain elements that were bent on taking advantage of the current fuel shortages to cause unrest and instability in the country.
“Such politically motivated activities will not be tolerated‚” the president said‚ indicating that security structures would step in to curb the misuse of the fuel price increase. –