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Raymond Jaravaza, Showbiz Correspondent
“WE will do whatever it takes to survive and if it means not going back to touting for passengers in the commuter omnibus business to being full-time runners for forex dealers, then so be it,” 20-year-old Thabo Mloyi tells Saturday Leisure.

It’s at the intersection of Siyephambili and Luveve Road in Bulawayo and the youngster is joined by four colleagues soliciting for business from passengers intending to board Zupco buses.

Mloyi is a former tout who operated at the informal Sixth Avenue terminus before the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic early last year. He, together with his friends, have switched from touting for passengers to being runners for an illegal forex dealer.

Illegal money changers are taking advantage of the disparities between the official exchange rate and the prevailing rates on the black market, which are much higher and instead of concentrating in the city centre, they have shifted their focus to the ghetto.

We watch as Mloyi offers to ‘buy’ a US$1 note for $120 (local currency) in hard cash from a passenger standing inline in a Zupco queue and a deal is struck instantly. Mloyi tells Saturday Leisure that he works for a forex dealer who supplies him with wads of cash in local currency every morning to buy forex.

“I was a tout for three years before kombis were ordered to join Zupco to operate legally so it meant that business at Sixth Avenue terminus came to a stop and we had no choice, but to find other means to survive.

“This business (buying forex) is similar to what I used to do as a tout in the kombis business in the sense that I have to use my people skills to convince passengers to sell me their forex instead of using it to pay for bus fare.

“We offer much more than what Zupco gives passengers who pay in forex so it’s easier to convince passengers to sell their forex to us,” says Mloyi.

Zupco commuter omnibuses charge $50 or R10 for a trip into the city centre from the townships. The exchange rate for a US$1 note is equivalent to $100, which means by selling their forex to the illegal forex dealer runners, passengers get more as compared to using the same amount of forex to pay Zupco fares.

It takes a few minutes for Mloyi’s cash to run out and he quickly disappears behind a petrol station where the illegal forex baron is parked.

He re-emerges with fresh supplies of crisp notes in local currency and goes straight into soliciting for forex from a sizeable queue of passengers that has just formed.

He claims to buy at least US$150 on a good day and is paid five percent of a day’s earnings.

How was he recruited by the illegal forex baron?

“I was told by a friend that there is a guy looking for clever boys who can buy forex for him and I didn’t think twice about the offer. I determine how much I earn every day and on a good day, I can make as much as US$10.

“I live nearby in Emakhandeni suburb so I don’t have transport costs compared to the runners who operate in town,” he said.

At a busy intersection along Khami Road in Mpopoma suburb, another group of runners can be seen canvassing for business from Zupco passengers.

Ever suspicious of anyone who asks too many questions, in case they are law enforcement officers, one of the runners ‘orders’ his colleagues not to entertain the Saturday Leisure crew as doing so might not sit well with the ‘big man’.

We presume that the big man being referred to might be the forex dealer who supplies the runners with cash every morning or whenever they run out of local currency to buy the forex.

But the modus operandi is strikingly the same as that used by Mloyi and his colleagues. They simply approach passengers waiting to board Zupco buses and offer to buy their forex for ‘a premium rate’.

In the city centre it is a different ball game altogether.

In a parking lot in the vicinity of Tredgold Building, runners wave their phones in the air as a sign that they are illegal money changers. Disguised as a potential customer, the Saturday Leisure crew approaches one of the young men to enquire about the prevailing rates on the black market for that particular day.

One of the men instead, ushers the news crew to the top-of-the-range vehicle and tells us we can make the transaction with the owner of the vehicle, away from potential arrest by the police.

“Don’t worry makhiwa (customers), umdala will give you the best rates, just get into the car and he will serve you,” says the young man as his colleague also solicits business from an elderly couple walking by.

Osiphatheleni are back, albeit with a new bag of tricks to deceive the prying eyes of law enforcement authorities and the big fish in the business have enlisted the services of “touts” to canvass for business.

Their business is not only illegal in terms of financial and monetary regulations, but is also in violation of the national lockdown imposed by the Government to slow the spread of Covid-19.

The big fish are well aware of the risk of arrest for breaking down lockdown regulations and are not taking any chances. This is where the touts come in.

The touts do not keep any money on them and the small mobile phone they wave in the air to solicit clients is not the same device used in the final transaction between a client and the boss.

“I’m the middle man, I simply link clients with the boss and the deal is concluded in the car. It’s a risky job, but I have no choice. I must eat at the end of the day so taking risks is just part of the job.

“All I have to do is to convince a customer that my boss has the best rates in town and if the client wants to change forex, I will take him or her to the boss’ car. The more clients I bring, the more money I’m paid,” he tells us.

When law enforcement officers pounce, it’s the touts in the firing line. But this is a risk they are willing to take just to put food on the table at the end of each working day. It’s a hand to mouth affair, but one that is gaining popularity judging by the number of touts working for illegal forex dealers in the city centre. — @RaymondJaravaza