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He said travelling to Harare had gone up to between $15 and $20 up from between $10 and $12.
A passenger coming from Inyathi, Mr Mbuso Ncube, said he had spent more than four hours waiting for transport to Bulawayo and unregistered operators were taking advantage of the situation.
“Private cars are capitalising on the situation and they are making it big this festive season,” said Mr Ncube.
He said the deplorable state of the roads to Inyathi and other destinations were worsening the transport situation.
“Other operators are reluctant to ply some of the routes because the roads there are very bad,” said Mr Ncube.
Meanwhile, supermarkets in the city have recorded a slump in the sale of grocery items during the last week before Christmas, this year, compared to the same period last year.
In a survey carried out by a newscrew yesterday, most leading supermarkets did not have the hustle and bustle often associated with shoppers just before Christmas.
Employees at various supermarkets said they expected sales to pick later during the day, when most people who were queuing at banks had accessed their money. “It has been tough because most of our customers have been held up at banks where there is a shortage of cash. We are, however, expecting a last minute rush when people finally get their monies later in the day. We are therefore offering extended shopping hours to cater for them,” said an employee at one of the supermarkets.
Ms Bongani Ncube, a civil servant who was in a bank queue at a bank along 10th Avenue said she was frustrated because she thought she would not be able to do her Christmas shopping.
“I have been here since yesterday and I am beginning to fear I will not get my money in time to buy Christmas groceries. The queue is not moving at all,” said Ms Ncube.
In contrast, furniture shops, gift shops and liquor outlets reported brisk business.
“Things are virtually flying out of the shelves. We thought we were overstocked but it seems we will not meet our customers’ demands because most of the shelves are already empty, as you can see,” said Mr Gerald Mpofu, a shop-owner.
Owners of all the gift shops that were visited said people were buying more toys and gifts for their loved ones this year, compared to previous years.
Furniture shop owners said business was also at a peak.
“We are making frantic efforts to order more stock. If you look around you will see that almost everything in the shop has a sticker showing that it has been sold. Most of our stock has been bought by Zimbabweans based abroad. Quite a number were buying furniture, electrical gadgets and other household appliances to fully furnish entire houses,” said an employee at one of the shops.
A number of liquor shop owners lamented the limited hours during which the law allowed them to operate. “Since the first week of December, we have recorded an increase in sales of more than 100 percent. It is painful to close the shop before 10pm, with customers clamour-ing for beer. Some of my friends have started ignoring the stipula-tion on our licences and remain open until the early hours of the morning,” said an owner of a beer outlet.
Online Reporter