This archive report was first published on 24 July 2021.
As South Africa slowly recovers from the violence and looting that followed the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma, neighboring Zimbabwe is still counting the costs of the unrest.
With South Africa being Zimbabwe's primary source of capital imports, the country's fragile economy is facing serious disruptions, with the importation of raw materials and finished goods severely constrained.
According to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), Zimbabwe relies heavily on South African ports for its imports, with the main highway from Durban through KwaZulu Natal Province being the epicenter of the violence that disrupted transportation.
The violence disrupted the movement of cargo from Durban to Zimbabwe's major inland port in Beitbridge, and even after calm returned, congestion still slowed things up.
Beitbridge is also the major gateway to several southern and eastern African countries that use South African ports to move their imports and exports.
Some economists are projecting that Zimbabwe lost around $32 million in the week of violence due to supply chain disruptions, with the subsequent congestion likely to result in further losses.
With Zimbabwe importing goods and services worth close to $2 billion from South Africa annually, and exporting over $2.4 billion, the country's economy is heavily reliant on its neighbor.
As one of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's advisors and a leading industrialist, Busisa Moyo, warned, 'the disturbances in South Africa will affect the entire region. We will feel it in the next few days. Conserve cash, food, raw material, and other necessities.'
Industrialists are warning of serious job losses in Zimbabwe as companies face production disruptions in the coming weeks, and the country's efforts to recover from a drought and Covid-19 recession are also being dented.
On Tuesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa held a virtual meeting with over 90 business leaders in sectors hurt by the violence in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng provinces, proposing to enhance security by deploying more security and coordinating intelligence.
