BY PINDAI DUBE
BULAWAYO – Dorothy Ncube, who looks much more older than her 33 years, wakes up at the break of dawn to rush to the green market in the city centre to buy vegetables and tomatoes for resale in Mpopoma high density suburb.
Her husband was a barman at a city hotel before his death, five years ago, due to a suspected HIV/Aids related illness. He also used to operate a family tuck shop at their Mpopoma lodgings to make ends meet.
After his death Dorothy managed, with difficulty, to put food on the table from the meagre earnings from the tuckshop. She could also pay school fees for her three secondary and two primary-school children.
But after two years, the Zimbabwe government embarked on Operation Murambatsvina, razing the tuckshop to the ground.
“It was traumatic for me and the children. The tuckshop was our only source of income. When it was destroyed we had nothing,” said Ncube.
Thousands of homes and informal trading structures were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people rendered homeless and left without any form of livelihood. Pockets of resistance were beaten or arrested after being forced to pull down their own trading structure and homes.
“All my children pulled out of school and stayed at home because I had no money for school fees. I had to sell all the property bought with my husband before his death for us to get food – until my friend advised me to venture into illegal foreign currency exchange dealing,” said Ncube.
“My brother lent me some money to go and buy foreign currency and start some money changing business,” she added.
Ncube joined her neighbour MaKhumalo, a well-known forex dealer at the notorious “World Bank” in Bulawayo. She had already bought herself white “Vapostori” garments, commonly associated with foreign currency dealers known as Osiphatheleni/Mativigirei for easy identification.
With her new trade Ncube tried to make ends meet, managing to put food on her table and feed her children from the pickings of the illegal trade. But the trade was not easy – she had to play cat and mouse to evade arrest.
But the world collapsed on her again in August 2006. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) embarked on Operation Sunrise to harvest all the cash circulating outside the banking system. Thousands were left stranded with worthless millions of the old Zimbabwe dollar currency after they failed to beat the three-week deadline.
“The time which was set by Gono was too short and we were unable to return all the old currency. We were also scared of arrest if we attempted to return it. So I was left with hordes of old currency and this affected my business and I to pull out,” Ncube said.
She decided to venture into cross-border trading – buying goods from neighbouring Botswana for resale at home. She did this for nine months until last month when the government introduced a Statutory Instrument 37 of 2007 – which saw duty levied of 60% of the buying price in foreign currency.
Again Ncube is out of business – without money for rent, food or school fees. Her landlord is threatening to evict her and the children this month if she doesn’t pay the outstanding arrears.