Senior Zimbabwean security officials, seen as key to any resolution of Zimbabwe’s political crisis, have been meeting South African mediators, South Africa’s Star newspaper reported yesterday.
Citing unnamed sources, the Star said Zimbabwe’s security chiefs, seen as wielding wide power, “wanted to ensure that their interests are catered for in any agreement reached” in power-sharing talks which began two-and-a-half weeks ago.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai were due to meet in Harare yesterday after signs that progress had been made in the power-sharing talks.
Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Wednesday called on their supporters to end political violence in the country, the most tangible sign of forward movement in the talks since they began two weeks ago.
Members of South African President Thabo Mbeki’s mediation team met Zimbabwean security officials this week in Pretoria, the Star said. Mbeki, who has been leading regional mediation efforts, was expected in Harare yesterday.
Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and the MDC began power-sharing talks last month, following the veteran leader’s re-election in a widely condemned June poll boycotted by the opposition.
The protracted political crisis has deepened frustrations among millions of Zimbabweans already suffering from inflation. Barred by the government from using US dollars for purchases, Zimbabweans have turned to a new money source: gasoline coupons.
The move reflects the complete chaos of Zimbabwe’s financial system, where prices are openly quoted in the US currency, in Zimbabwe’s own new currency that came out on Friday, and in its old denominations, which have 10 more zeros than the new bills.
Even coins have returned to circulation after being abandoned in 2002.
Auctioneers Hammer and Tongues announced the first “auction by barter” to be held today. Dozens of cars and other goods will be up for bids payable in gas coupons instead of hard currency and the government says the system is legal, the auction house said on Wednesday.
“Homegrown solutions for Zimbabweans. Now we are selling in liters not in dollars,” the statement said.
Bidders must put down a deposit of 1,000 liters of gas coupons, worth about US$1,500 at the current gas price in Zimbabwe, and pay the rest in coupons when they pick up their purchases.
Zimbabweans are facing acute shortages of local currency. Already gas coupons can be used to pay some household accounts. Many businesses also pay workers part of their earnings in scarce foodstuffs, or demand US dollars for purchases, which is illegal.
“Where coupons become a currency it reflects the rapidly falling value of the Zimbabwe dollar. Barter selling provides something that holds its value,” independent Harare economist John Robertson said.
Private financial institutions say Zimbabwe’s inflation rate was about 12.5 million percent in May and estimate that it has likely climbed to 50 million percent this month.
Obsolete coins have also been revalued, sending Zimbabweans hunting for coins they squirreled away in recent years.
Shops battled to count heaps of coins, causing long lines at checkout counters. One enterprising Harare business on Tuesday advertised coin weighing machines that even banks had discarded after coins went out of circulation in 2002.
Businesses reported a slight upturn in transactions since Friday despite the money crisis.
“I think people were more sanguine about spending 100 new dollars instead of a trillion old dollars. It doesn’t feel so bad,” Robertson said.
But that would not last long, he said. Since the new money came out Friday, it had already fallen in value against hard currencies by about 20 percent.
“The petrol coupon has a more stable value and barter works,” Robertson said.
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