Some Bulawayo supermarkets on Tuesday were rejecting payment in Ecocash and swipe when residents were buying the subsidies mealie meal.

A survey done in some of the shops such as Cover Supermarket and Oceans established that the shops were accepting only cash and rejecting Eco cash and swipe much to the inconvenience of many residents who now relay on the two payment methods due to escalating cash shortages.

“I have asked the till operators here if they accepted Ecocash but they told me that they want cash only. I am stranded now and have not been having mealie meal for days now. The only method available for me is Ecocash since I do not have a bank account and the cash is difficult to get,” said one resident who was queuing for the staple product at Cover supermarket.

An one said it s high time we will make noise in these shops, these methods are provided for us by the government and financial institutions  and it is known that there is a shortage of cash, why then would some one demand payment for such a staple food in cash only,” fumed another queuing resident.

The shops have been not having mealie meal for a long time and residents who saw a truck parking in front of these shops run to queue anticipating to get something. However the product got finished while many were still in a queue.