Living in Zimbabwe has undoubtedly become a nightmare. Even the most optimistic of all pessimists will agree with me that the socio-economic and political situation in the country is just unbearable. How we are surviving is for the Lord Almighty to answer. There is all the evidence of a country moving towards the brink of total collapse.

Of course this is not a new message I am putting across, but I am simply adding to the many voices of discontent, in a true depiction of responsible citizenship. There is an ill informed tendency to label those who criticise the establishment as being unpatriotic. However, I have since developed a thick skin. I will not allow people to bully me and coerce me into submission, that is, people who want me see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. Worthy citizens are those that criticise constructively, without fear of favour.

In this installment I seek to highlight the effects of the Government’s price control exercise. The directive that businesses should revert to prices as of 18 June 2007 has had more harm than good, in my opinion at least. While there is no doubt that the frequency of price increases was threatening our survival, and thus the price freeze somewhat welcome, there has however been more damage that many of us have only been left wondering where we are heading to as a country. 

The most immediate effect of the price blitz has been the unprecedented shortage of commodities in shops and supermarkets. You don’t need to be an economist par excellence to appreciate the basic truth that supermarkets are short of basic goods like sugar, mealie-meal, beef, cooking oil, meat and a lot more other goods. While it was fun as we all bought as many bottles of Mazoe when the prizes were slashed, we are now experiencing the counter effects. There is no Mazoe to talk of in supermarkets, no eggs and no milk. We are living to rue the day the prices were slashed.

Shortage of beef has greatly infuriated the people of Bulawayo, and generally most people from the Southern region, who historically cannot be separated from their love of beef. The shutting down of abattoirs saw the genesis of meat shortages, that unfortunately through the reopening of two abattoirs in Bulawayo, is still not readily available. People are just angry and hungry for meat.

The black market has been given another new lease of life. Bread and mealie meal are sold from houses, street corners and all other un-business like environs at exorbitant prices. Hygiene standards have been greatly compromised. What with the water shortages in Bulawayo, it is only a matter of time before we record casualties as a result of a severe disease outbreak.  

When cellphone tariffs when slashed, network went berserk. Haywire so to speak! A phone call, although terribly cheap, became a nightmare. At worst messages were delivered 24 hours later. Talk of communication for economic development and you would be joking in the Zimbabwean context.
Boarding schools have also been greatly affected. With a serious shortage of goods how are our kids expected to survive? Again with the proposed school fees slash, valueless fees may be paid that will only serve to place schools between the devil and the deep blue sea. Recently the Pro Vice Chancellor of Lupane State University, Dr Maclean Bhala, was quoted in the government press lamenting very low tertiary fees that are making it difficult to develop university infrastructure. As we write students at NUST paid close to $150 000 fees for the 1st Semester of the academic year 2007-8. That had us loath the rationale behind such a figure. If there is meant to be free education in Zimbabwe then let it be.

Queues have become the order of the day. With the manner in which queues are found all over, manned by “professional queues”, it is as if all of us zimbos are in a trance of some sort, running all over in pursuit of cheap goods like headless chicken. Sadly, there has emerged a new kind of consumers in the form of professional queuers that buy goods for resale on the black market, further exacerbating the plight of honest consumers. Production time is lost in queues, further draining the little of economic blood we have left.

Government, it is observed, will also feel the pinch of its own policy. Tax revenue will dwindle in significant percentages as a result of low businesses by the public and private sector. It is only a matter of time before the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority records a significant decline in its coffers.

Although transport was readily available before the price blitz, which has been likened to a ruthless Asian Tsunami, there is no reliable transport to talk of. Streets are filled with desperate commuters all mornings and afternoons. Conventional buses are also overwhelmed by demand. Private cars have come to the rescue of the situation although they only ease an inch of the problem. People are now accustomed to being late for work and school children miss some of their lessons. The situation is desperate!

However, there are all the pointers that the madness is being reversed. Cell phone tariffs have been increased and while there is still no meat, a few abattoirs have since been re-licenced.