Harare/Johannesburg - Military helicopters hovered above
Harare suburbs on Wednesday, the second day of a largely unsuccessful
strike.
Shops, businesses and taxis all appeared to be operating as normal
in the capital as few Zimbabweans heeded the call by the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions to stay away from work.
Analysts said the strike, which also sought to press for higher
wages, appeared to have gone largely unheeded because Zimbabwe's
largely self-employed workforce could not afford to take time off.
'It's a futile exercise to call people to stay away,' said
political commentator John Makumbe of the University of Zimbabwe.
Police had warned they are on 'high alert' but by mid-morning
there was little sign of police on major roads.
The Combined Harare Residents Association, one of the biggest
rights groups in the country, alleged that police and soldiers beat
up some residents in two eastern Harare townships on the eve of the
strike on Monday.
The strike had been called to protest government action over the
economic crisis in Zimbabwe, where inflation, currently running at a
world-record 1,729 per cent, is predicted to reach at least 2,500
percent this month, according to the official Herald newspaper.
Prices have risen between 200 and 500 percent since March 1, the
date a price freeze had been due to come into effect and consumer
spending had reached 'rock bottom,' the paper said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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