Zimbabweans stayed at home on Wednesday while foreign banks and most businesses in the capital shut down operations, in one of the biggest - and peaceful - stay-away actions in nearly a decade. Local units of Barclays and Standard Chartered shut their branches in central Harare while clothing retailers Edgars Stores and Truworths also closed stores. Government departments were open while supermarkets like Pick'n'Pay, Ok Zimbabwe and Choppies reported low business. Siyaso, one of the biggest and oldest informal markets in Mbare township near central Harare was also shut down and there were few vehicles on Harare's roads. It is not usual for a Wednesday to have these small volumes," a supervisor at an OK Zimbabwe store in the central business district said.

Source: The Star July 06, 2016 13:07 UTC