The use of multiple currencies has not brought about any positive change to her life, despite the excitement associated with the liberalisation of the foreign currency regime.
“In 2004, my son Garikayi operated a viable tuck-shop in Mbare. Life then was bearable since he used to send me some groceries to supplement my harvest. I remember paying neighbours who helped me to cultivate the fields with the salt and sugar Gari sent me. But things changed when the room he rented and the tuck-shop he operated were destroyed during Operation Murambatsvina and he came back to the village to live with us, his source of income gone,” Makufa said.
The rainy seasons have been getting worse in Masvingo over the past decade, particularly in the Devhure area adjacent to the Save Conservancy. Residents now rely on a few boreholes sunk by Care International, a food relief agency operating in the area.
“It’s bad at the peak of the dry season, particularly around October when even the boreholes run dry. We walk more than 10km to fetch water at a borehole in Mukarwi Village that has water throughout the year. People even compete with livestock for the scarce water,” Makufa added.
She is not alone. Most families here battle for daily necessities like soap for washing and bathing, which cost more than $1 per bar in the local shops.
“We appreciate that basic commodities are now available in the stores and supermarkets, but we cannot afford them. The little money that we get from selling firewood to people is not enough for us to buy maize meal and sugar for our families. We also risk prosecution by our village heads who are against deforestation hence the money comes in small amounts far too short to meet our basic needs,” said Smart Madyirapazhe from Village 17 in the Devhure Resettlement area.
“We can hardly move from here. A trip to Chikuku by a taxi or commuter omnibus, a distance of 20km is $2 one way. In addition to this I part with more than $3 because I have to go to the local grinding mill twice per week to have two 20-litre buckets of maize meal because I look after an extended family of 12,” said Makufa.
Shortly after dollarization in 2009 there was an increase in the livestock sales by communal farmers as the hard currency gave an acceptable value to animals of the hoof. But any disposable livestock has long since been sold and many people have no draught power at all now.
The situation is worse for Masvingo residents after provincial Governor Titus Maluleke banned non-governmental organisations that gave food relief services in the area.
Even unemployed urban dwellers are failing to find the money to buy basic commodities in the shops and pay rent, water and electricity bills.
“I used to stay in Budiriro but I have since relocated to Epworth where I am living in a shack where no one demands payment for rent, water or electricity. I worked at the Fourth Street bus terminus for a foreign currency dealer in 2008 but was rendered jobless after the introduction of multiple currencies. My three children who were at Budiriro 3 primary are no longer going to school because there is really nowhere I can get $30 for education,” lamented Kurai Magariro.
Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono, who stands accused by many of presiding over the world’s highest inflation in modern world, faced a barrage of criticism following his recent calls for the return of the Zimbabwe dollar. His fiercest critic is Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who once said the governor deserved severe punishment for causing the collapse of the country’s economy through his penchant for printing money to finance the former Zanu (PF) government’s excessive spending.
But, while the call for the return of the local currency seems absurd, many poverty-stricken Zimbabweans feel it might improve their lot as foreign currency is completely out of their reach.
Post published in: Business