BULAWAYO residents have issued a desperate plea to the government to introduce urgent social protection measures, including a universal citizen grant funded by the nation’s vast mineral wealth, as a brutal cost-of-living crisis pushes households to the brink.
The demand for a direct financial safety net comes as skyrocketing transport costs, rising rentals, and inflated food prices—largely driven by global fuel price instability—suffocate the working class and the unemployed alike.
According to Winos Dube, chairperson of the Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura), the economic situation on the ground has turned dire.
Dube said fuel remained the primary engine of the current inflation, noting that “fuel really controls and governs everything,” from manufacturing and farming to basic human mobility.
The impact on the average worker’s pocket has been immediate and devastating. Dube said daily transport costs for many commuters have effectively doubled.
“People are now spending US$2 going to work, US$4 a day, an increase from the dollar that they have been using,” Dube said, questioning where citizens are expected to find the extra funds given that incomes remained stagnant .
“We are seeing prices of commodities going up, rentals will also be going up... Many utilities are becoming most unaffordable for households.”
Faced with these mounting pressures, residents are calling for a radical policy shift: the implementation of universal citizen grants.
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Advocates argued that Zimbabwe’s rich natural resources—including lithium, diamonds, gold, and coal—should be leveraged to provide direct financial support to every citizen to alleviate poverty.
“Zimbabwe is adorned with many minerals,” Dube said, urging the government to adopt a policy that ensures every Zimbabwean “tastes the fruits of this country.”
He pointed to regional neighbours as evidence that such safety nets are possible. “South Africa is doing it... Botswana is doing it... honestly we are saying, what fails us as Zimbabwe, yet we are so rich?”
The economic strain is not merely a matter of balance sheets; it is tearing at the country’s social fabric.
Descent Bajila, the legislator for Emakhandeni-Luveve, warned that the rising cost of basic services is pushing families into abject poverty.
Bajila attributed the spike in transport costs partly to the Middle East conflict, but noted that the price hikes in Zimbabwe have been “quite huge compared to other countries in the region.”
He also flagged presumptive taxation as a key driver behind rising rental costs.
The consequence of this financial “suffocation” is a visible spike in criminal activity.
“Unemployed young people are resorting to crime in order to cope with the rising cost of living,” Bajila warned, echoing Dube’s sentiment that economic desperation is driving citizens toward “ill activities just to make a living.”
Compounding the crisis is the perceived collapse of existing government support systems. Bajila criticised the state for its failure to maintain the Urban Cash Transfer programme, which he claims has not disbursed funds in over a year.
“This is an indictment on the social safety scheme. The need to fund this scheme is urgent and unavoidable now,” he said, while also calling on local authorities like the Bulawayo City Council to reduce service charges to cushion residents.
Economic analysts in Bulawayo described a grim landscape where households are adopting extreme survival strategies.
As the gap between stagnant wages and soaring expenses widens, citizens are “learning to minimise travel,” with some even absenting themselves from work or resorting to “hiking on open trucks” to save on bus fares.
Dietary patterns are also shifting as families abandon nutritious options for “cheaper routines.”
“The quality of life is unpleasant for most people,” one analyst noted, calling for a combination of fuel price stabilisation, wage adjustments, and a reduction in municipal rates.
The crisis is not confined to urban centres. Chief Mtshane Khumalo, pesident of the Chiefs Council, revealed that rural communities are being hit equally hard by exorbitant transport costs.
For many in the countryside, the doubling of bus fares has made it impossible to travel to cities or even local growth points to acquire essential goods10. “A lot of people now fail to go and get things... Some just sit hoping this Middle East war comes to an end,” Chief Khumalo said.
He urged the government to intervene in transport pricing, alleging that some operators are taking advantage of the global situation to charge “exorbitant” fares11.
As the informal sector—once the backbone of survival for many—becomes increasingly crowded and “insignificant” in its ability to change lives, the consensus among residents and leaders alike is clear: without immediate government intervention and a redistribution of the nation’s mineral wealth, the cycle of poverty and crime will only deepen.
