I SALUTE ANYONE DOING BUSINESS IN ZIMBABWE

On 2 October 2017, I finished serving my 4 weeks notice after I resigned from my job in Centurion after 10 years with my employer. I boarded a bus in Pretoria that evening and arrived in Harare on 3 October 2017. The situation in Zimbabwe was gloomy. I was there to try and prop up my struggling piggery project, which I managed to do by buying cheap maize bran for my pigs. I managed to greatly lower my costs. I was very cautious about sending more money into Zimbabwe. Police corruption was at an all time high and they openly extorted money at roadblocks. After buying pig feed that would last me 3 months I escaped back to South Africa which is a normal functioning country when compared to Zimbabwe. I expanded my transport hustle by buying a 4 tonne truck. I constantly travelled to Zimbabwe midweek cheaply when the border is less congested as I was no longer working.

A month later Robert Mugabe was toppled, I even flew in to Harare on the day of the demonstration to participate. Zimbabweans from all walks of life looked to the future with much hope. We were so wrong the situation was set to get worse 😢 Because of my success in my piggery project I thought I should get back to work starting April 2018 for only 6 months, get a payslip to be able to access a personal loan to buy butchery equipment as well as finance tobacco farming, my target was 10 hectares. I should have been more patient. I realised by end of June I had made a mistake going back to work as 60 well fed pigs were sold in my absence and thousands of dollars were unaccounted for, in the process I lost momentum. My hustle in South Africa also started to suffer. In life you have learn from your failures, forgive yourself and move on. After the disputed 2018 election the situation in Zimbabwe got worse, the government abandoned US$ and I had 10 hectares of tobacco seedlings that I had to give away, you can’t spend Rands to grow tobacco then the government pockets US$ and they pay you worthless Zimbabwean dollar. Finally early this year, we stopped the piggery project as we encountered so many challenges and we no longer had the energy. I have learnt so many lessons doing business in Zimbabwe. The environment in Zimbabwe is very unpredictable, we always joke that government officials wake-up every morning and ask themselves, how can we make lives of ordinary people a living hell today😢 In Zimbabwe the government comes up with arbitrary policies with zero consultation and that can mean that your business can close down. If you have been based outside Zimbabwe for sometime the hardships have changed ordinary people, it’s very difficult to trust people in Zimbabwe with money especially your relatives. People always inflate costs and it has become a normal way of life . Many businesses have no problems taking months to pay you or not pay you at all. When you send money to Zimbabwe for projects people have no problems converting it for their own use. In my view it is important to constantly visit Zimbabwe and handle your finances on your own otherwise it will end up in tears. I am looking forward to going back to Zimbabwe once the restrictions are lifted although I no longer have the same energy I had given the deteriorating economic and political environment.