News / National
Thousands of clients fail to access cash
25 Dec 2010 at 15:45hrs | Views
Thousands of people, especially civil servants from rural areas, were
stranded in Gweru yesterday after failing to withdraw their salaries
from banks and there are fears that many may fail to access the cash
even today.
This could mean a gloomy Christmas for the workers and their families.
There were long and winding queues at almost all the banks and it is highly unlikely that these queues will be cleared by end of business today.
Some of the people said they were now sleeping in queues as they were desperate to withdraw their salaries.
At Cabs Building Society Bank along Robert Mugabe Way, there was a long winding queue with some people saying they had slept in the queue because they were desperate to withdraw their money.
The same long queues were seen at other banks that include Beverly Building Society and the Post Office Savings Bank.
In interviews, the people said accessing cash was proving a nightmare.
"I didn't know I was going to spend days here waiting to withdraw money," said Mr Lovemore Tera, a teacher from Somabula.
Mr Tera said he has been trying to withdraw money since Monday.
"Today (yesterday) I woke up at around 3am but by the time I arrived at the bank, a long queue had already formed, meaning some people slept in the queue," he said.
Mrs Senzeni, also a teacher from Lower Gweru communal lands, said she feared she might not be able to withdraw her salary before Christmas.
"I was surprised to find a very long queue when I arrived here at around 12 midnight," she said.
Mrs Talent Mthombeni, a pensioner, said she was failing to withdraw $20 pension payment from the POSB.
"Imagine waiting for hours in the queue only towithdraw $20 which is my pension for two months.
"This is painful but there is nothing I can do as I want to use that little money to buy some few groceries for Christmas," she said.
By close of business yesterday, there were still long queues at the banks.
In Zvishvane some banks like POSB extended opening hours yesterday in a bid to clear the queues.
There were long and winding queues at almost all the banks and it is highly unlikely that these queues will be cleared by end of business today.
Some of the people said they were now sleeping in queues as they were desperate to withdraw their salaries.
At Cabs Building Society Bank along Robert Mugabe Way, there was a long winding queue with some people saying they had slept in the queue because they were desperate to withdraw their money.
The same long queues were seen at other banks that include Beverly Building Society and the Post Office Savings Bank.
In interviews, the people said accessing cash was proving a nightmare.
"I didn't know I was going to spend days here waiting to withdraw money," said Mr Lovemore Tera, a teacher from Somabula.
Mr Tera said he has been trying to withdraw money since Monday.
"Today (yesterday) I woke up at around 3am but by the time I arrived at the bank, a long queue had already formed, meaning some people slept in the queue," he said.
Mrs Senzeni, also a teacher from Lower Gweru communal lands, said she feared she might not be able to withdraw her salary before Christmas.
"I was surprised to find a very long queue when I arrived here at around 12 midnight," she said.
Mrs Talent Mthombeni, a pensioner, said she was failing to withdraw $20 pension payment from the POSB.
"Imagine waiting for hours in the queue only towithdraw $20 which is my pension for two months.
"This is painful but there is nothing I can do as I want to use that little money to buy some few groceries for Christmas," she said.
By close of business yesterday, there were still long queues at the banks.
In Zvishvane some banks like POSB extended opening hours yesterday in a bid to clear the queues.
Source - Byo24
