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Walter Mswazie in Masvingo
THE Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) has blasted social media alarmists for causing unnecessary panic in the market through fake messages and urged the public to ignore them.
In an interview on the sidelines of the CCZ/Insurance and Pension Commission (IPEC) consumer education and awareness outreach programme here last week, CCZ executive director, Ms Rosemary Siyachitema, expressed concern over prevailing price distortions and castigated people who posted “fake” price increases on social media platforms for manufacturing a gloomy atmosphere in the country.
She urged consumers to rely on formal information from responsible authorities and not to take everything they hear from the grapevine as factual.
“When I came to Masvingo last night, I found a number of consumers especially motorists in panic mode. Almost everyone was talking about a fuel price hike from about $5 to $8 that I had to phone Harare to confirm,” said Ms Siyachitema.
“I later realised that all was a social media hoax and nothing was closer to the truth, there was no such increase. I also later knew that it was a lie after watching the national news and the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) had to set the record straight.”
She said while the economic situation was not good, consumers should desist from panic buying based on unconfirmed reports.
“We urge consumers to only concentrate on basics and buy according to priority. They should avoid impulse buying, as this is normally expensive. There are alarmists who only want to cause despondency among consumers by peddling lies on economic upheavals. A responsible consumer should be aware of such people and learn to ignore messages which put them in panic mode,” said Ms Siyachitema.
Turning to salaries, she said employers should make continuous reviews of employees’ salaries in line with changing prices.
“I think employees deserve to have their salaries adjusted in line with the increases in prices of basic commodities. This is because we are seeing the prices skyrocketing and yet salaries remain stagnant. We should also learn to produce our own wheat so that the price of bread does not increase,” Ms Siyachitema said.
– @walterbmswazie2
Online Reporter