The affected people, mostly MDC supporters, have been stranded at Marondera Central Africa Building Society (CABS) since last week. Their plight has been worsened by the government registrar office in the town who cannot process the required documents due to power load shedding.
We can only entertain clients with positive identification, a CABS manager said.
A CABS client described her situation was hopeless. She had made it to the registrar’s office when they had electricity and the officials asked for a birth certificate.
The dictatorship running the country should have calculated that living without an identity document would have far reaching repercussions. I have nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep and no bathing facilities, a local said.
The recently introduced Z$10,000 and Z$20,000 notes are causing a nightmare for banks. Most workers and government pensioners earn less than Z$10 000 and the banks have no change. They cannot access their cash unless they deposit the difference.
Lack of confidence in the banking system has resulted in cash flowing one way, creating a severe shortage of Z10, Z$20, Z$100 and coins in the financial institutions.