At the beginning of the week US$1 bought Z$40 billion, by the end of the week that same foreign dollar realized Z$500 billion. Its impossible to keep up and most people have given up trying to operate in Zimbabwe dollars. In one huge supermarket which does not sell in foreign currency, the only items on the shelves this week were long life milk and condoms. In another supermarket nearby the shelves were full of goods but all were marked in US dollars and they were very expensive – more than most could afford. You pay in American dollars and the change is given in South African coins – it's a flat, rounded down conversion rate – take it or leave it.
In other shops the tellers don’t give any change at all so if you buy something for US$9 you either leave having lost a dollar or you have to buy something you don’t want that apparently costs a dollar. It's amazing how many really trashy little sweets have suddenly appeared at check out counters which cost 50c!
With almost everything now being in US dollars, the people suffering the most are the civil servants because they continue to be paid in Zimbabwe dollars: teachers, nurses, police, army, telephone, electricity, municipal, post office and government department workers. Their salaries continue to be paid direct into banks in Zimbabwe dollars and its almost impossible to get the money out of the bank or to find anything to buy with their worthless Zim dollars. This simply reality explains bribery and corruption better than any university degree.
For some unknown reason our banks are suddenly refusing to allow people to withdraw their own money out of the bank unless they can provide a pay slip to prove that they earned the money legally. This might sound like a simple thing but for most people it's a nightmare as employers no longer have paper or ink to print pay slips on and the postal service has all but collapsed. Other banks have adopted a policy of closing accounts which do not have a transaction within a month – this apparently because the currency is devaluing so fast.
There is nothing in writing, no notice, no explanation, you just suddenly find your bank account gone – four or five decades of loyal service means nothing, millions, billions and trillions of dollars is suddenly useless, worthless trash. One elderly lady I met this week cried as she told me her life savings, including the money from a car she had recently sold, had devalued by sitting in the bank for a few months and were now worth 11 Zimbabwe cents.
Another scheme that is causing huge suffering is that of medical aid societies demanding monthly contributions in US dollars but then refusing to reimburse claims from patients in foreign currency. Worse, they will now only honour the consultation fees of a handful of doctors and so patients find themselves stranded: unable to afford to see their own GP’s or dentists and unable to physically get to the medical aid society "approved doctors."
As President Bush leaves power in America this week I can’t help wondering how many scores, hundreds, of world leaders have changed in the 29 years since Zimbabwe’s been controlled by one man, one party. It defies belief. Until next week, thanks for reading, Ndini shamwari yenyu.