Illegal cash vendor jailed

Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
Cash vending is detrimental to the economy and courts should intervene and curtail the practice, a Harare magistrate said on Tuesday. Ms Josephine Sande made the remarks while sentencing an illegal cash peddler, Rosa Sanudi (40) to nine months in prison. Sanudi was convicted on her own plea of guilty to charges of contravening the Exchange Control Act.

Of the nine months, three were set aside for five years on condition she does not commit a similar offence within that period. The remaining six months were suspended on condition Sanudi performed 210 hours of community service at Rotten Row Magistrates’ Courts starting on Wednesday this week. The court heard that last week, Constable Obey Rice was deployed in the central business district (CBD) under the operation code-named “Dzosai Mari”, meant to arrest illegal currency dealers.

While at Roadport terminus in Harare, Sanudi offered to sell him bond notes, South African rands and United States dollars. She was arrested and searched, leading to the recovery of US$30, ZAR10 and $190,35 in bond notes. According to the new regulations gazetted recently through Statutory Instrument (SI) 122A of 2017- Exchange Control (Amendment) Regulations 2017 (No 5), police are now empowered to arrest illegal money-changers and seize whatever currency in their possession. Government established cash vending as a catalytic agent to arbitrary price hikes and rent-seeking behaviour. Illegal cash traders had turned Eastgate Shopping Mall, Copacabana, Roadport, Market Square and First Street into zones for illicit foreign currency deals.

Following the new regulations, which effectively amended the Exchange Control Regulations of 1996, published in Statutory Instrument 109 of 1996, Section 2 of the principal regulations, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has since launched an operation code-named “Dzosai Mari”, which has since led to the arrest of more than 20 people, including three Chinese. Most of those arrested have since appeared in court and are on bail pending trial.