February 2009 business people in Matabeleland rated the rand at 6.50 to the dollar while “in other regions” it traded at 10 rand to the dollar. In fact, in February 2009, the rand world-wide traded at 10 to the dollar and this was the rate which was also used in Matabeleland – in the street, on the kombis, in supermarkets, and by the banks (their “mid-rate” between the buying and selling rates).
But by June 2009 the rate had dropped to 8, by December to 7.50, and by late 2010 it reached 7 as the rand strengthened against the US dollar.
Recently the rand has weakened again and as I write this we are back at 10.
Throughout this period shopkeepers, cashiers and street sellers were aware of the rate fluctuations and adjusted the change given in rand coins for payments made in US dollar notes in a most accurate way. I have never heard of such a complex task of mental arithmetic being carried out so well and so faithfully by so many ordinary people and have been proud to point this out to visitors from abroad.
However, suggestions from traders quoted by your correspondents about fixing the exchange rate at a convenient R10 to the dollar overlook the fact that these are NOT OUR currencies.
The exchange rate is affected by the monetary policies of the Reserve Banks of South Africa and of the United States of America. No directive by the Zim government could cause the rand/dollar rate to suddenly freeze for our convenience! – John Schmid, Bulawayo
Post published in: Letters to the Editor