GWERU – Fuel shortages spread across Zimbabwe on Thursday, with the Midlands city of Gweru most hit.
The Reserve Bank maintains that it has released sufficient money for fuel imports to continue smoothly.
Most fuel stations in Gweru were deserted, with the few still serving having long queues.
Harare and Bulawayo received supplies after long queues formed in the two major cities on Wednesday – but some service stations were still out of supplies heading into the weekend.
The fuel crisis has led to panic buying by motorists, and the growth of a black market for fuel selling at higher prices.
In Gweru, long queues developed at Dollar Motors, Zuva and Sakunda service stations which still had the precious liquid.
Motorists who spoke to ZimLive said they were spending hours in queues and the fuel crisis was now disturbing their work.
“We knew this problem as a Harare problem for the past week and didn’t really think it will get here. Now this has spilled over to other cities including us here in Gweru and the whole city is now facing a fuel crisis,” said Clifford Mandaza, who is the manager of a security company and also survives through hiring out his vehicle.
“All the errands I was meant to do today have been cancelled and I have been here for the past four hours just looking for fuel,” he added.
Another motorist, Michael Monde, said he had spent more than two hours in a fuel queue and his finance business had been left unattended.
“Right now, we are supposed to be doing some other business but we are here, for almost two hours now, and they’re saying they’re offloading first and then they will start serving,” he said.
“We want to know what is causing this shortage that has happened so drastically because a few days ago the minister said fuel is plenty at Feruka but now we have this,” said Monde.
Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya said they continued to release $20 million weekly for fuel imports, shifting the blame for the shortages to the fuel industry.
Some service station owners blamed delays at Beitbridge Border Post for the erratic supply which threatens economic revival plans of the new government.
