Fuel price war hits Gwanda

A fuel price war has hit filling stations in Gwanda with each station fighting to out do the others in having the lowest price in the town.

Gwanda Town has always had four fuel stations all of them charging more or less the same price for fuel with petrol at between $1.50 and $1.54 per litre while diesel ranged between $1.37 and $1.42.

Trouble in the town started with the completion of a new filling station Glow Petroleum which opened its pumps to the public at the beginning of December. The new filling station whose directors are rumoured to be some senior government officials operate it by franchising the brand to small scale business people opened the pumps with petrol selling for $1.46 per litre and diesel at $1.36 per litre.

Information quickly spread around the town of the lower fuel price at the new filling station situated  about 2.5 kms from the town's CBD immediately killing business for the inner town filling stations as drivers preferred to go the extra mile to save a few cents on their fuel.

Realising the threat another indigenous filling station operating under the ZUVA Petroleum brand reduced its prices to just one cent under Glow Petroleum price. Not to be out done, Glow Petroleum reduced its prices by a further five cents on both blend and diesel to $1.41 and $1.31 respectively.

Not to be out done ZUVA petroleum brought their prices down again to once cent below the new "kid on the block's" price at $1.40 and $1.30 per litre respectively. Perhaps realising the stubborn competition from its rival, Glow Petroleum sent a killer blow and reduced its prices further to $1.30 per liter for petrol and $1.18 per litre of diesel. The "auction" appears to have taken a halt with these prices remaining in place for a couple of days now with the two top "bidders" showing no signs of changing their positions.

However, obviously affected by the completion two other prominent filling stations Redun Petroleum and Engen Petroleum have been forced to equally come down slightly on their prices to trade at just below $1.50 for petrol and around $1.39 for diesel. The government operated CMED filling station which provides fuel mostly to government vehicles and to members of the public on a small scale appears not to be responding to the price wars and has retain prices unchanged.

Speaking to Bulawayo 24 in separate interviews motorists in the town expressed both excitement and outrage at the price wars taking place. The motorists are obviously delighted to be suddenly buying petrol at $1.30 from a previous high price of up to $1.55 per litre. Most excited are the diesel users who can not believe paying only $1.18 per litre.

Some motorists expressed anger in that the price wars seem to be suggesting that fuel has always been over charged in the country. A Mr Philani Sibanda who drives a taxi in the town said that it is now evident that fuel stations are ripping off the public by deliberately over charging fuel.

A long distance taxi driver who drives from Johannesburg to Bulawayo twice a week said that it was no longer necessary for him to fill up jerrycans of fuel at Messina before crossing into Zimbabwe as fuel is now affordable in Gwanda.