Bulawayo– While the government became the knight in shining armour for revellers by denouncing the move by Delta Beverages to sell liquor products in foreign currency, a new predicament has arisen as beer prices have spiraled out of control.
Following a statement by Delta, released on the 2nd of January, which left many retailers in shock, liquor prices have continued to rise so retailers may be able to restock if any situation arises. Interestingly,the wholesale prices have remained unchanged at Delta.
The situation has come at a time when the outbreak of the annual ‘January disease’ is at its peak.
With responsibilities at this time of the year that include paying fees for children returning to school, and going back to work, revellers say beer price hikes are exorbitant.
“Beer prizes are not stable, I used to buy a quart of beer for only a $1.50 when things were normal,but now I have to fork out close to $5 out of my pockets for only one quart nowadays, it’s not sustainable,” Zenzo Dube from Cowdray Park said.
Adding to the problems, revellers have highlighted that while they are grateful to the government for fighting for their cause, a lot of problems have emerged. One major problem being shortage of the precious liquid at their usual joints.
“We no longer have that choice as a consumer to choose what beer we want to consume. If you get into a bar, you will realise that a Black Label or Zambaezi quart will be out of stock and only a Castle or Eagle quart is available .This ends up limiting our choices as to what to consume, ” Dube said.
As if that is not enough, Busiswa Moyo from Pelandaba said what irritated him the most is the prevalent situation where canned beers are now the order of the day.
“You walk into one of the popular night clubs in the city, you will be surprised to find cans only and all the bottled products out of stock, the situation is just a turn off,” he said.
A local bar owner who commented on conditions of anonymity, said the number of customers is slowly reducing due to the irregular supply of the precious liquid.
“In January there is generally a decrease of customers in bars due to the infamous ‘January disease’, but this year has been worse than the previous ones, a situation I suspect is directly linked to the jagged supply of the precious liquid,” he said.
Beer supplies have been going down in recent months, as producers are failing to get foreign currency to sustain their operations.
As the prizes of beer continue to increase, there are fears that the populace will turn to illicit drug abuse in a quest to get drunk. As of late, the Zimbabwean youth are at the centre of controversy over a record abuse of illicit drugs, which many have attributed to lack of jobs.
