Johannesburg/Harare - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe vowed Monday his government would not back down on blanket price freezes as police announced they had so far arrested 7,500 people for overcharging. Mugabe, who was speaking in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said shops and businesses back home would have to reduce their prices whether they liked it or not.
"We just had to take action, take action against businesses that escalate prices, businesses that were bending the rules," Mugabe was quoted by the official Herald daily here as telling Zimbabwean students in Malaysia.
"Some (businesses) are resisting saying they will not supply goods and services but we say you will," added Mugabe.
The 83-year old head of state is in Malaysia to attend the Langkawi International Dialogue, a forum to discuss development issues.
In June Mugabe accused the business sector in Zimbabwe of playing what he called a "dirty game" by raising prices to unaffordable levels. His government ordered price cuts of at least 50 per cent on all goods and services.
As a result, basic commodities have disappeared from shop shelves, only to reappear on the black market at inflated prices. Butcheries and some shops have closed down, saying they cannot afford to operate at a loss.
Thousands of desperate Zimbabweans are reported to be flocking across their country's borders to neighbouring South Africa and Zambia to buy scarce goods like milk, cooking oil and maize meal.
The exodus of illegal Zimbabwean immigrants sneaking into South Africa across the Limpopo River in search of a better life is reported to have reached around 3,000 a day.
Zimbabwe's business sector said its regular price hikes were necessary to remain viable in an economic crisis marked by acute shortages of foreign currency and inflation way over 4,500 per cent.
But Mugabe told the students: "It (the wave of price hikes) is coming to an end, as it must," according to the Herald.
Police announced that at least 7,500 people had been arrested since the start of the price blitz on June 26. Most of the offenders have been fined or sentenced to long hours of community service.
Police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka said more than 1 trillion Zimbabwe dollars (worth around 670 million US dollars at the government-set foreign exchange rate) had been raised in fines.
