A mass work stoppage called for by Zimbabwe's opposition to protest over President Robert Mugabe's government entered its second day yesterday, with the majority of businesses remaining shut, especially in the capital Harare.

Large supermarkets and department stores also remained closed, as did most commercial banks.

Industrial sites were at a virtual standstill and most transport companies grounded their fleets following the burning and stoning of several buses on Tuesday, when the two-day strike called for by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) began.

Many Zimbabweans heeded the MDC's call to stay away from work on Tuesday, making the first day of the strike the opposition's most widely followed protest action against Mugabe's government for years.

The MDC had called for peaceful mass "action for national survival" to protest Zimbabwe's deepening socio-political and economic crisis, which has forced the majority of Zimbabweans into abject poverty.

"When people lose their dignity through despair, injustice, hunger and oppression, they have to resort to desperate measures to survive," the party said.

Dozens of opposition supporters, including two lawmakers, were arrested across the southern African country on Tuesday for various offences ranging from barricading roads to burning cars.

State media on Tuesday reported that a minibus carrying kindergarten children was burnt in Chitungwiza, a town 25 kilometres south-east of the capital. The children escaped unhurt.

A group calling itself "Zvakwana Sokwanele" - which means "Enough" in the local vernacular - said two buses were "badly damaged" early this morning.

The group also announced in an email message yesterday that there would be demonstrations across the country, but did not give details.

Mugabe's government has linked the mass work stoppage to the extension of Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth.

"The planned opposition mass action has been calculated to coincide with today's Commonwealth report on Zimbabwe's suspension from the councils of the 54-member grouping and America's push to have Zimbabwe condemned for alleged human rights abuses," the state-run Herald newspaper said on Tuesday.

Pro-government commentators have blamed former colonial power Britain for being behind the mass protests, in a bid to increase hardships for Zimbabweans.

AFP