MultiChoice Africa's country business in Zimbabwe got a much-needed reprieve, with the struggling Southern African country's reserve bank allowing DStv subscribers to pay for the subscription TV service in foreign currency like American dollar.
MultiChoice Zimbabwe in a message to DStv and GOtv subscribers in Zimbabwe told them that they can "still" pay their DStv subscription fees in American dollar.
"DStv payments can still be made at selected banks in US$ as the DStv service is exempt from Statutory Instrument SI 142," MultiChoice Zimbabwe told its customers.
On 24 June 2019 the Zimbabwean government suddenly announced that it's switching to the "new" Zimbabwean dollar, more than a decade after it became worthless, and that the American dollar, South Africa's rand, the British pound and Botswana's pula will no longer be accepted as legal tender in Zimbabwe with only the Zimbabwe dollar that can be used as payment for local transactions.
This would have made it even more difficult for DStv and GOtv subscribers in Zimbabwe to pay MultiChoice Zimbabwe for a pay-TV service.
Zimbabwe's bad currency and foreign currency crisis steadily worsened during the past two years, with it becoming almost impossible for DStv subscribers in the country to make payments.
In January MultiChoice Zimbabwe told DStv subscribers to pay their accounts in rand from South Africa.
In February 2017 the Zimbabwe Reserve Bank dramatically ramped up its clamping down on citizens using foreign currency and the American dollar, specifically slamming Zimbabwean DStv subscribers for their "illogical behaviour" of wanting to subscribe and pay for DStv.
Since late-2016 several payment options for DStv subscribers in Zimbabwe simply disappeared with payment processing providers announcing that they simply can't continue to process DStv payments, with many Zimbabwean DStv and GOtv subscribers who have family members paying their subscription fees from South Africa through Checkers and Shoprite supermarkets.
It has now emerged that Zimbabwe's central bank during a meeting with financial institutions held just a day later on 25 June 2019, decided to allow dollar payments for MultiChoice's DStv to continue.
It means that DStv subscribers in Zimbabwe can "once again" pay with foreign currency for the DStv subscriptions from within Zimbabwe.
