Government’s COVID-19 monthly payouts insincere

By Rawlings Magede

Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube is at it again. This time around he has announced that one million households will start receiving $3oo monthly payouts as part of government’s efforts to cushion people whose sources of income have been affected by COVID-19.Treasury’s Chief Director of Communications and Advocacy, Mr Clive Mphambela was quoted in the weekly Sunday mail confirming that the money for such an exercise has already been budgeted for and approved.

Given the astronomical rise in the cost of living, the $300 payout will do little to ameliorate the plight of the suffering citizens especially those in rural areas.The COVID 19 induced lockdowns across the world has seen a dip in diaspora remittances that has become the major source for rural livelihoods. Added to this, the closure of boarders has also dealt a heavy blow to cross boarder traders. Of course the Ministers’ announcement all but confirms government’s “copy and paste” approach that has seen the country religiously following lockdown measures being implemented down of Limpopo. This time around Mthuli has announced a relief package almost similar to that of South Africa with the only difference being that in South Africa the package amounts to R350 while ours is a mere $300.South Africa currently has Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants which are a temporal provision of assistance intended for persons in dire material need that they are unable to meet or their families’ basic needs during the COVID 19 lockdown. Unlike in our case, South Africa has a clear laid out criterion to identify beneficiaries which helps safeguard against manipulation or abuse of the scheme.

The announcement by Mthuli is not new as in April 2020, he also announced a similar $600 million package for COVID 19 relief cash transfer to cushion vulnerable households whose income had been affected by the COVID 19 induced lockdown. To date, government has not made public the total number of households that benefitted from this facility for the purposes of transparency and accountability. If anything, some reports have pointed to partisan implementation of the facility.

Government’s insincerity exposed

$300 translates to a paltry US$3 on the parallel market. With this amount, one can only purchase a 2litre bottle of cooking oil. Other basic commodities are now being charged in foreign currency or the Zimbabwean dollar equivalent. A 10kg of mealie meal now costs US$5,a 2kg sugar US$2.50 and a 2kg flour US$2 respectively. The $300 monthly payout by government exposes government insincerity when it comes to the welfare of its own people and falls hard on the glaring reality of the high demand f the US dollar for basic commodities by most businesses. For rural communities however, this development is going to come at a huge cost. Local money changers will likely prey on beneficiaries of these government monthly payouts and distort the exchange rate so much that the money will fail even to buy a 2 litre bottle of cooking oil.

A case of misplaced priorities

There is no doubt that government is caught up in a catch 22 situation. Government has been exposed for prioritizing issues that are not on the top of citizens’ wishlist.In 2019, a report surfaced of how government had paid US$500, 000 to a United States based lobby group canvassing for the removal of targeted sanctions imposed on top ZANU PF officials. The US lobby group led by one Brian Ballard was to have targeted sanctions on 141 individuals and entities in Zimbabwe removed. The campaign for the removal of sanctions by the government appears to be retrogressive as on one hand, government commitment to respect and uphold fundamental human rights and freedoms of its citizens remains questionable. The recent arrest of investigative journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono and Transform Zimbabwe leader, Jacob Ngarivhume demonstrates the lack of commitment by government to respect human rights. The Chin’ono arrest reminds me of how Frank Fukuyama in his book, Political Order and Political Decay explains the link between corruption of ruling elites and shadow economies. These shadow economies are usually exempted from paying taxes at the instigation of ruling elites and are oiled by well orchestrated illicit activities and can deploy the “mafia” to silence and crush those that seek to expose entrenched acts of corruption among ruling elites.

Coming back to the issue of the US$500,000 that was given to a dubious firm, how many people would have benefitted had government donated that money for COVID 19 relief? As corruption is busy bringing down Africa’s once prosperous economy, the country continues to slide further into turmoil. Citizens are restless and there is consensus among the generality of citizens that the ZANU PF government does not have solutions to the current state of affairs. Recent revelations by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube during his mid-year budget review that the country will record its worst Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in more than a decade this year should be a cause for concern. According to his projections, the country will only receive US$150 million this year as compared to US249.5 million recorded in 2019.

In the final analysis, government must be called to order over its lack sincerity with regards to the COVID 19 monthly payouts. The paltry $300 monthly payouts reveal government’s lack of concern and commitment to take care of its citizens during these desperate times. Government’s the world over are coming up with reasonable relief payouts in the wake of COVID 19 lockdowns. South Africa is giving out monthly payouts of R350 to its vulnerable citizens. From that amount, its citizens are able to purchase all the basic necessities to take them throughout the month. It is time our government demonstrates serious in this regard.


Rawlings is a Communication for Development expert with vast interests in human rights, peace building and sustainable development. He writes here in his personal capacity and has been a blogger since 2009.He has written extensively on Zimbabwe’s constitution making process, politics, peace, devolution and media advocacy. Feedback on vamagede@gmail.com