Most businesses in the rural areas of Matabeleland South are now rejecting bond notes and are only accepting Pula, Rand and United States Dollars as legal tender, Sunday News has reported.
Mangwe-Plumtree Business Association chairperson Golden Dube told the state-owned publication that:
Most of the shops in rural areas are no longer accepting bond notes as payment. Most of the shops are owned by South Africa-based Zimbabwean businesspersons and these instruct their employees not to accept the local currency and only sell products in rand, pula or the US (United States dollar). This has left communities in a predicament as foreign currency is very difficult to source.
This has forced communal farmers to demand foreign currency when they are also selling their livestock. Dube called on the government to reintroduce a local currency as soon as possible to protect the poor who cannot afford the scarce foreign currency.
-Sunday News
