Two South African men on a visit to Zimbabwe and a local illegal foreign currency dealer were arrested after they were caught while illegally changing money amounting to R2 000 on the parallel market near Beitbridge border post.

Police spokesman for Matabeleland South province Insp Tafanana Dzirutwe said the two, Robson Chauke (26), Joseph Mudau, both from the Sibasa area, and John Moyo (34), a Zimbabwean ,were arrested on Monday, November 12, at around 22:00.

"We arrested the three men, two of them South Africans, for illegally dealing in foreign currency involving R2 000, after they were spotted by one of our officers who was on patrol at the Beitbridge border post," he said.

The South African pair had just entered Zimbabwe through the Beitbridge border post when they reportedly approached a foreign currency dealer in search of local currency.

Under the Zimbabwe Exchange Control Act, visitors and tourists are supposed to exchange their money for local currency at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) counters at an official exchange rate. However, the majority of people are shunning the RBZ, citing a lower rate.

The current prevailing exchange rate of the rand compared to the Zim dollar is pegged at R1: $4 579. However, on the parallel market, the rand is selling for as much as $150 000.

The three appeared in court for allegedly contravening a section of that country’s Exchange Control Act (illegal dealing in foreign currency). They were each fined $5 million or two months’ imprisonment.

The R2 000 was also seized by the State as part of the sentence.