Queues have become a feature of daily life. The sheer drudgery of life is causing many Zimbabweans to despair. Amid threats by Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai to pull out of the national unity Government after learning that President Robert Mugabe had awarded all top Cabinet posts to members of his own party, tension is running dangerously high.
Civic groups are outraged and this week started agitating for confrontation with government.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general Raymond Majongwe urged Zimbabweans to launch street protests against the Mugabe regime.
Elizabeth, a teacher in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, told The Zimbabwean: “Life was easy until about eight years ago. We had everything we needed and I could afford to send my kids to private schools. But now I’m struggling. I have not gone to work since schools opened because government doesn’t want to pay a living wage. What do I do? Continue waiting for these politicians to hold us to ransom? Hell no, I am seriously thinking of leaving for South Africa.”
Amid the teachers’ strike, school fees have risen repeatedly, even though there is no schooling taking place because of the industrial action. But Elizabeth, who is married to a forex dealer, biggest problem is transport.
“My youngest daughter attends school outside town, so she has to be driven to school and then back home. Now there is no fuel. I don’t know what to do. When I talk about pulling her out, she tells me: ‘But mommy, you say there are no books at your school.'”
Most petrol stations in Zimbabwe are deserted. Drivers don’t even bother trying to fill up their cars. The only petrol available to ordinary people is on the black market.
But the prices are prohibitive, so Zimbabweans who own a car only use it in emergencies. Black gold is still supplied, albeit very irregularly to petrol stations that sell to commuter vans. But drivers often have to wait for weeks. And the fuel coupons are fast taking over.
The fuel shortages mean that hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have to walk long distances to work or to school.
Jack, a 50-year-old fireman, walks 13 kilometres to work every day. He hopes the implementation of the power-sharing deal will end his woes. Like many Zimbabweans, he is frustrated with the bickering over Cabinet posts.
“I wake up at 5:30 a.m. and arrive at the fire station around 7:45. We finish at 6 p.m., and then I walk back home. I get there around 8. These days, it’s not surprising to see a chain of people walking.
When Jack was first employed in 1982, he earned 190 Zim dollars. “I could afford to eat four or five times a day and buy all the luxuries I wanted”, he says. “Now I’m earning 12,000 Zim dollars (please note 13 zeroes have been lopped off this figure), but I can only afford one meal a day. In the morning, we only have some tea without bread. Just tea. We can’t even afford to buy sugar. Besides it’s not available any more. Sometimes we go to bed without eating anything.”