Zimbabweans from all spheres of life took advantage of Unity Day to do last minute Christmas shopping, with customers congesting supermarkets yesterday, while thousands of travellers took to the road to visit their families.
In Harare, people could be seen doing their last-minute shopping in preparation for Christmas on Sunday, which is often celebrated with the family.
Supermarkets and clothing stores were packed, with shop assistants battling to serve a large number of shoppers.
Money transfer agents such as Paisa, Mukuru, Homelink and Western Union were coping with long queues as people collected the remittances sent by their relatives abroad. Some people were queueing at the agencies which deliver groceries bought in South Africa and Botswana, or online.
Most people expressed joy at the price stability which has seen basic prices remaining largely unchanged in the second half of the year after a particularly rough period of rising inflation.
At bus stations and undesignated boarding points, there was a lot of activity. While today and tomorrow are not public holidays, many have been able to work out a long weekend from yesterday to Tuesday night to take advantage of the public holidays.
This led to pirate transporters hiking fares as the legal public transport system appeared overwhelmed.
A trip from the city centre to Warren Park, which costs $350 on a Zupco bus, or $400 on a Zupco-registered kombi, cost $600 on pirate kombis and mushikashikas.
Touts were already in Christmas mood and could be seen imbibing strong brews and playing cat-and- mouse with police.
Mr Gibson Machengo from Mabvuku said this Christmas was poised to be one of his best over the last decade as he could now buy more groceries and clothes for his family.
“This year I will be celebrating this Christmas with my family in Mabvuku. I work in South Africa as a truck driver and I have not been around for the past three years because of work. So this year it is more like I am having a family reunion,” he said.
Mrs Priscilla Maenzanise from Braeside who was buying clothes for her children said she could not wait to celebrate the day with her family.
“Today I am buying clothes for my children and tomorrow we might come back to add more groceries. This Christmas we are going to have a braai at home and we have also invited our friends to come and celebrate with us,” he said.
At the downtown area popularly known as “kuma tuckshop”, people were also observed jostling for goods.
One of the buyers, Mrs Cythia Mataranhike said goods were cheaper at the tuck shops if one has foreign currency.
The shopping trend is expected to continue today as most supermarkets will open for business today, along with banks, as retailers hoping to mop up people’s increased disposable incomes.
At Mbare Musika, and other passenger pick up points such as the blocks of Sam Nujoma Street north of Herbert Chitepo Avenue going northwards for Mashonaland Central, people could be seen jostling for transport, with private motorists recording brisk business.
There were hundreds of people at Robert Mugabe Road and Fifth Street, outside Roadport bus terminus, where travellers to Mashonaland East and Manicaland waited for transport. – The Herald
