Tenants and teachers are the latest groups to protest against rising inflation and the currency crisis. Property owners and estate agents canvassed this week predicted a gloomy outlook for tenants as landlords begin to demand payment in dollars.
And protesting teachers marched nearly 300km to add their voices to those of striking doctors, demanding dollar-denominated salaries.
Landlords said the situation was aggravated by the government's insistence that the US dollar was worth the same as the bond note, when on the black market a dollar buys 3.5 bond notes.
Joyanti Gopal, a property owner in Victoria Falls, said the rental market was at a "standstill" over the future of the bond note. He told his lawyers "to exercise their discretion [over what currency to use] when they renew leases for tenants next month".
Mike Juru, the president of the Real Estate Institute of Zimbabwe, said because rent payments were private transactions, landlords could demand payment in any currency.
A property lawyer called for a "clear pronouncement" by the government on the legal position regarding acceptable currencies for rents.
"People have approached us complaining that they have been given notice to vacate houses and premises," said the lawyer, who asked not to be identified.
CATCH-22 SITUATION
Bulawayo estate agent Ian Dlamini said: "The issue is not that people don't want to pay in US dollars, but they don't have it. It's a catch-22 situation because landlords are demanding US dollars.
"The industry is affected because you have a tenant who cannot afford to pay what the landlord wants, and as a result both are unhappy."
A tenant who occupies a two-bedroom cottage in Victoria Falls said her landlord had given her notice to pay monthly rent of $500 from January. Until now, she had been paying $300 by bank transfer.
Morgan Dube, chair of the Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association, said tenants were feeling the pinch.
An estate agent said property owners should avoid making unreasonable demands that tenants were unable to meet.
"Some are being reasonable because they fear they might not get tenants. Leases are being renewed and some landlords fear they might lose tenants, end up with either defaulting tenants or empty space," said the agent. "They should maintain the same rates and accept all payment methods until the dust settles."
OUTSTANDING ANNUAL BONUS
Frustrated with their dwindling earnings, more than 100 members of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe staged a 275km protest march this week from Mutare to Harare. They demanded payment in dollars and the outstanding 50% of their annual bonus.
One of them, Robson Chere from Mashonaland East, said: "My salary is not even enough to pay school fees for my children and I fail to meet basic needs. The salary is far below the poverty datum line."
Teachers, who earn about $250 a month, have had their spending power eroded by inflation, which hit 31% in November, up from 20.85% a month earlier.
The teachers' union president, Obert Musaraure, said because most goods and services were priced in dollars, teachers should be paid in that currency.
"Rural teachers are living in abject poverty and struggling to access basic services such as health care. The government should introduce an equalisation fund for rural education and development, and an attraction allowance to compensate rural teachers for the hardships they encounter," he said.
Raymond Majongwe, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general, said teachers faced great economic hardship.
"The real tragedy is that after all this hard work the returns and benefits are very minimal … there is no respect for teachers, no recognition, and this is why we are victims to poverty," he said.
"Teachers are facing serious challenges and we have a teacher-pupil ratio in some cases of one teacher to 80 pupils."
Gerald Tavengwa, a teacher in the Midlands province, said his salary went on transport costs. "The government needs to pay its workers in a currency that can be recognised," he said. "As a teacher I face many challenges. The work is too much, the teacher-pupil ratio is very high and also in some schools there is no water."
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was due to meet teacher union leaders on Friday in an attempt to break the deadlock before schools open in the new year...