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Business Reporter
The traditional adage that the media (including the social) informs, educates and entertains is fast loosing relevance in Zimbabwe.

The media, especially the social media, has arguably become a source of pain for Zimbabwean consumers and to some extent some formal businesses.

The alarmist messages on social media have caused a run on many businesses as people conduct panic buying, prices have been hiked on the back of hoax reports of price of fuel being increased the following morning.

The list is endless, but it has been established the consumer, as all this happen, is the ultimate victim.

The sad scenario is that these prices will never come down upon learning that the reports were false, and this calls for measures to protect the consumers.

It is against this backdrop that Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) has blasted social media alarmists for causing unnecessary panic in the market through fake messages.

The consumer watchdog urged the public to ignore such messages.

In an interview on the sidelines of CCZ/Insurance and Pension Commission (IPEC) consumer education and awareness outreach programme in Masvingo on Tuesday, CCZ executive director, Ms Rosemary Siyachitema, expressed concern over prevailing price distortions and castigated people who posted “fake” price increases on social media platforms for manufacturing a gloomy atmosphere in the country.

She urged consumers to rely on formal information from responsible authorities and not to take everything they hear from grapevine as factual.

“When I came to Masvingo last night, I found a number of consumers, especially motorists in panic mode. Almost everyone was talking about fuel hike from about $5 to $8 that I had to phone Harare to confirm,” said Ms Siyachitema.

“I later realised that all was social media hoax and nothing was closer to the truth, there was no such increase. I also later realised that it was a lie after seeing national news and the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) had to set the record straight.”

She said while the economic situation was not good, consumers should desist from panic buying basing on unconfirmed reports.

“We urge consumers to only concentrate on basics and buy according to priority.  They should avoid impulse buying, as this is normally expensive. There are alarmists who only want to cause despondency among consumers by peddling lies on economic upheavals. A responsible consumer should be aware of such people and learn to ignore messages, which put them in panic mode,” said Ms Siyachitema.

Turning to salaries, she said employers should make continuous review of employees’ salaries in line with changing of prices.

“I think employers deserve to have their salaries adjusted in line with the increases of basic commodities. This is because, we are seeing the prices skyrocketing and yet salaries remain stagnant. We should also learn to produce our own wheat so that the price of bread does not increase,” she said.

There are been some companies, including the largest employer, Government, that have responded by cushioning their workers by giving them some hardship allowances.

However, there are reports of others that are threatening workers with expulsion or closure of the company if they demand salary adjustments.