A picture of a plate with a mound of sadza accompanied by a sea of soup and a lonely piece of what appears to be beef stew has set social media on fire. This follows the action by several tertiary institutions, including the University of Zimbabwe, introducing austerity measures as inflation hits hard.

Food at the Midlands State University (MSU) in Gweru#Zimbabwe #Gweru pic.twitter.com/luUaiGqX71

— Zim Local (@zimlocals) October 3, 2019

The price of beef has gone up. Yesterday when we were doing our normal rounds in town we noticed that the price had gone up from an average of $40 to a minimum of $49.50 in Texas meats which is usually the cheapest. Dumile beef, which rarely accepts swipe, had prices starting from $55.

Public institutions have not been allowed to charge in US dollars or foreign currency. This was the case even before the multicurrency system was scrapped. This means whatever students paid is being eroded by inflation on a daily basis forcing the institutions to take drastic measures.