Bus fares go up AGAIN

By Violet Gonda
9 February 2007

Local and long distance bus fares have gone up again, barely three weeks after the last increase. Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa who travelled from Harare to Mutare on Friday, said the bus fares went up with no warning from Z$15 000 to Z$20 000 and from Harare to Bulawayo from Z$30 000 TO Z$40 000.

He said the local fares in Harare went up from Z$1 500 to Z$2 000 making it more difficult for workers. Most are already failing to afford bus fares to travel to work.

The inflationary environment in Zimbabwe has resulted in prices of essentials like fuel and basic commodities increasing on a regular basis with no solution in sight. Transport operators say they are left with no choice but to hike fares due to the high cost of fuel and spare parts.

Muchemwa said many people have been taking trains as they are cheaper but the high demand has resulted in unscrupulous people hording tickets and re-selling them at inflated prices. In Mutare a train ticket to Harare is supposed to cost Z$5 300 (off peak) and Z$7 500 (peak) but is double the amount on the ‘black market.’

Analysts say the ever-increasing cost of living is taking its toll. Most people complain their income doesn’t cover the cost of transport to work. This is one of the main factors for the tension that is mounting around the country. Transport costs combined with power blackouts, water cuts and the breakdown of essential services, have resulted in a wave of strikes across the country’s work force.