Erasmus Mabhebhura

Landlords have piled on the misery on working class after most started demanding rentals in United States dollars, despite the fact that most workers are being paid in the local currency that has lost its value by as much as 1 500% to the greenback since its re-introduction in June.

Many tenants in Harare are pleading with their landlords to continue charging rentals in local currency, the Zim dollar that they are receiving as wages and salaries.

Tellmore Shanga said: “The ever changing economic situation is now forcing landlords to demand rentals to be paid in forexm, but that is impossible since my salary is in Zimdollars.”

“During the time we used multi-currencies I had an option to pay in forex or local currency as inflation was not skyrocketing,” he added.

Unemployment and inflation have been cited as the major causes of hardships, which resulted in most lodgers failing to pay rental.

Easter Ndunduri, a Budiriro resident said: “The main reason the landlords are hiking rentals is that they want value from their assets and also they are not employed, so they get a living from rentals.”

Some landlords are accepting Zimdollars, but they want it rated equivalent to the US dollar rate of the day. This is greatly affecting the general populace whose incomes are not increasing, but deteriorating due to hyperinflation.

In an interview with ZimSentinel, Tafadzwa Muroiwa of Glen Norah said he reached an agreement with her landlord so that they can all cope with the economic situation. “I have agreed with my landlord that I will be paying my rentals every week so that he will use the money while it has value,” he said.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe signed a law which forbids the use and exchange of forex, saying if anyone seen or caught charging or accepting payment in forex would be incarcerated. This has worsened the standard of living of the citizens, leaving them prone to inflation as the Zimdollar continues to lose value against the major currencies.