Just when we thought we had hit the bottom, shortages of basic commodities in Zimbabwe have got worse. See attached photo of a sugar queue at my local shops yesterday.
It was a tortuous queue but the people in it did not appear to feel the torture. There was no evidence of agitation on their faces, further testimony to Zimbabweans’ outstanding placidity. Whether that is a strength or a weakness only time will tell. Some analysts reckon if we had a temperament similar to that of the Nigerians for instance, we would be on our fifteenth coup by now.
Ironically it is a privilege to be able to join a queue like that. With more than 80% unemployment, many do not have the capacity to join a queue. Just as I was about to drive off, a respectable looking lady came rushing to me and asked for $30000 so she could join the sugar queue. She gave me what I felt was a tall story. However, tall tale or not, one thing was certain. She was desperate. So I gave her the money.
The survival bar continues to rise everyday engulfing more and more respectable individuals who would never have contemplated begging before.
After nearly ten years of belt tightening, most people are now beginning to run out of notches. As someone put it, it is like running a marathon with no defined finishing line. People eventually start to bite the dust one by one. In spite of this, the risk of anarchy or significant mass protests remains negligible. That is my assessment. As a friend put it Zimbabweans, at least the Shonas, are of the extremely docile Rozvi stock that was a walk-over for slave traders and colonizers alike.
I recently had a remarkable realization. The price of a loaf of bread in May 2007 was $6000. If you re-instate the three zeros dropped last year you get $6million. That is exactly what it cost me to buy my house in Harare four years ago. You can view the house on Google Earth* at the following location:
Latitude: 17 49’ 48.55”S
Longitude: 31 04’ 22.25”E
With luck you may even catch a glimpse of me sunbathing in the garden!
The price of a loaf of bread is now $22000 when available.
Q. What has two hundred legs and eats cabbage?
A. A Harare meat queue.
One of the best performing counters on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange is a large brewing concern. Just like the banks, they seem to flourish in all seasons. I guess when people have nothing to celebrate they tend to use the same beer to drown their worries.
Q. What is the difference between Zimbabwean and Eastern culture.
A. In Eastern culture people commit adultery and they get stoned. In Zimbabwe people get stoned first, then commit adultery.
My South African business venture has failed. Maybe I should have gone into brewing instead! The sales never attained critical mass. So it is all but in cold storage now. I may revisit it sometime before I retire. Fortunately there is enough business in Harare to keep body and soul together, so far anyway.
In the early nineties, my employers used to subscribe to a magazine called African Business. In it was a plethora of electricity generator advertisements. At the time I could not fully understand why anyone would want to buy a private generator. Zimbabwe’s electricity supply was that good then! Needless to say I now fully understand.
While I was in South Africa the other week, I was saddened to hear regular adverts for electricity generators on Radio Jacaranda. On a local level, it is an unfortunate sign of resignation, an acknowledgement that the problem is not likely to be solved in the near future. Personally I reckon the sooner they abandon that BEE (affirmative action) business the better.
On a higher level, the unfortunate implication is that Africa has failed to produce a post-independence success story! South Africa was our last hope. However something can still be salvaged, even in Zimbabwe, believe it or not. I hope I am not hoping against hope.
*Appendix: Google Earth is a free Google service that gives you a bird’s eye (or rather satellite) view of any place on earth. To invoke it double click on the Google Earth icon. You should then find yourself on the “Fly to” tab. In the top left hand corner, type in the latitude and longitude of the spot you wish to fly to then click on the magnifying glass. Then hey presto! you are hovering over the spot you selected.
If you do not have Google Earth already, you can download it for free from http://earth.google.com/
I found it quite amusing that the Japanese translation of google is also guguru. I suspect we share a common linguistic root with those guys.
Bye for now,
Will
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