LIMPOPO – The statutory instruments tighten screws on the import of basic commodities including food items, building material, furniture, toiletries and cooking oil among other things.
Customers from Zimbabwe purchase basic necessities in bulk on the border town of Musina and cross the border every day.
Ordinary Zimbabweans who often buy groceries from South Africa say buying groceries and other goods back home is expensive as the country trades in US dollars.
The Zimbabwean government has indicated that local citizens who want to import goods from foreign countries should apply for a three-month permit.
The law says the applicant should indicate why he should be allowed to import goods which are available in Zimbabwe.
Harare says the laws are aimed at increasing foreign currency and stimulating local industries in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s civil society movement, Tajamuka says the new trade law will negatively affect ordinary Zimbabweans.
The organisation’s representative, Dennis Juru has criticised the government for what he called “the monopolisation of importation of basic goods.”
Juru said, “We are an organisation which fights against corruption in our country. We want to bring back the original trade between South Africa and Zimbabwe. It affects the population in Zimbabwe as many people work in South Africa. They used to buy cooking oil, flour and chicken pieces.”
Travellers who use the border into Zimbabwe are now required to only carry a limited number of some goods.
Some identified goods such as blankets and cooking oil are banned for import in Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans now use undesignated ways along the border where there is no fence and fewer army patrols. The smugglers say they often fall prey to the notorious gang known as “maguma-guma” who rob them of their goods.
Zack Timuri, a Zimbabwean teacher working in Seshego, says they have no choice but to use illegal means. “Things are maddeningly expensive in Zimbabwe. I don’t blame these people who use illegal paths to smuggle their goods into Zimbabwe,” he said.
