Bulawayo City shops shut for polls

Politics
Bulawayo will experience a virtual shutdown tomorrow, as a number of supermarket and retail chains have warned they will close for the elections.

Bulawayo will experience a virtual shutdown tomorrow, as a number of supermarket and retail chains have warned they will close for the elections.

Report by Luyanduhlobo Makwati

President Robert Mugabe has declared July 31 a public holiday to enable people to participate in tomorrow’s polls. Unlike past public holidays, where some major shops had remained open, most outlets have warned that they will be closed tomorrow. This has triggered panic buying in some cases.

In a survey by Southern Eye, supermarkets like Bellevue Spar indicated that they will be closed tomorrow and will reopen on Thursday. One of the managers, Denzel Chisau, confirmed that they will be closed for business and this decision cuts across all their branches in the city.

“What I can tell you is that we will be closed and we would like to encourage our customers to buy their groceries early so that they don’t get inconvenienced when we are closed for business,” he said. OK supermarkets, will, however, be open although the chain said it will release a schedule of operating times, as it will not be a normal working day.

“All that I am saying is that our shops will be open and our workers will be working on the day,” an official only identified as Munyai said.

“We have made a schedule as a company, so I don’t see any reason for us to close our shops.”