Zimbabwe commuters shocked as transport fares go up

Kimberleigh Jiro

Commuters in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, today woke up to the shock of their lives, when commuter omnibus fares went up without notice.

This is despite a marginal decrease in the price of diesel which was announced by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority over the weekend. Diesel is the most used fuel for public transport and its price reduced by ZWL$2.27 to ZWL$17.28.

Zimbabwe union of drivers and conductors (ZUDAC) president, Fraderick
Maguramhinga accused operators of taking advantage of unsuspecting
commuters.

He said, “we have seen an erratic shortage of fuel where kombis (Commuter Omnibuses) are getting fuel from the black market.”

Some commuter bus operators justified the increase saying there is no fuel at service stations so they are buying it using United States dollars and paying as much as USD25 for 10 litres, which makes carrying passengers for ZWL$10 unprofitable.