At the end of the day, SHOCK, paralyses you. As I look back, 2019 was a horrible year and 2020 looks bleaker. 2019 was not as bad as 2008 but those low levels of economic collapse might be reached this year. 2019 was a reverse reality of 2008, shops full of goods and consumers without purchasing power.
Life became hard when the quasi-currency, bond notes and coins, was pegged at par with the American dollar. Bankers knew how to go round the system, they stopped issuing money via ATMs and for some strange or deliberate reasons, they would issue American dollars for a limited period per day and then would dispense the bond notes. If one was lucky, one would get South African rand. It was an open secret that there was already a black market for hard currency. If one was lucky enough to get hard currency from the bank then they would trade it,at premium, on the black market. The once relied upon MasterCard and Visa Debit cards became redunt and as the hard currency shortage crunch became more acute, clients were required to pre-fund their cards before they could use them online or apply for RBZ authority for use while out of the country.
Life was becoming hard but people were coping since prices of products and services were within the reach of their earnings. Then overnight the authorities (read politicians) decreed that there be market controlled exchange rate between the USD and the Bond Note. Business adjusted their pricing accordingly and for some strange reason the salaries for workers were not adjusted in line with the new exchange rate. I am a worker and I know we were robbed there. It hurt and it still does. These are sticking points, nurses were summarily fired, Doctors are still demonstrating. The whole public health system is now on its death bed. The elites don’t care because their health problems are taken care of abroad; South Africa , India, Singapore, China, you name it.
For some strange reason, passport fees, have been pegged at an economically unviable cost. If the majority of passport consumables, such as ink, are imported using forex then it defies logic why the same documents cannot be priced in forex. People must be given choices. For the least cost passport, currently pegged at RTGS 53, why not those who can afford be given the chance to pay using forex, pay USD53 and get your passport after six weeks? Many Zimbabweans sustain their lives as cross border traders, the passport is their lifeline, once it expires, is lost or runs out of space for immigration stamping then they are grounded.
Electrical power has been subsidised for long, and the new tarriffs seem to be economically viable. Most domestic consumers have been put on a pre-paid metering regime and debtors have been placed on debt recovery payment plan. This could be easily done on commercial, mining and farming clients who owe ZESA money as well. The same system could be implimented at Local authorities, at Plumtree they have pre-paid water meters and the system is working well. What I dont understand though is the lack of foresight. Once a new system has been put in place chances are high that the backup system is either non-existent or is very weak.
The horror of 2020-shocking tuition fees hike in the education sector. Zimbabweans based in neighbouring countries have been enrolling their children in Zimbabwean schools. Some say, especially those in Botswana, that Zimbawean general education is better than Botswana’s. Those in South Africa say there is better disciplinary standards in Zimbabwean schools. Some people are doing their studies with Zimbabwean Universities, taking advantage of the block-release approach. Despite the falling standards in the Zimbabwean education system, I believe the fees were an attraction. Where a post-graduate programme would cost about RTGS1 800 per semester as tuition fees, it means one would pay about BWP1 600 or ZAR1 800 which is way cheaper than the cost of education in Botswana and South Africa respectively at post-graduate level.
Could the year 2020 be worse and bleaker than 2019, our annus horribilis? Lets wait and see may be salary will grow up like his friends, fuel,bread and school fees this year.
The Truth! 