Why Zimbabwe needs to discard the bond note currency for the South African Rand

The first time I went to Zimbabwe post Robert Mugabe’s era was on Sunday 10 December 2017 and I arrived in rural Mutoko late afternoon on the following day. It is normally very dangerous to openly discuss politics in that part of the country. I was in familiar company and people were worried that ever since Mr Mnangagwa was inaugurated as the new president, their living conditions had not changed for the better and prices of basic goods were now going up. I tried to explain the economic theory to them and how he is making the right noise internationally when it comes to investment protection, trimming government expenditure, goodwill from the west etc. Obviously to the common man in the street who continues to toil and suffer this brings little consolation. Recently there was a letter circulated from Innscor to say bread price is going up and now the Ministry of trade and industry has called for a meeting of the stakeholders to try and reverse this increase. There might even be an ill-advised attempt to re-introduce price controls. In my view the whole underlying problem is the bond note currency that was introduced by Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa last year during Robert Mugabe’s era. There is a saying that says, “A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will”.  The government should scrap the bond notes. There is honour in admitting that the government made a mistake with the bond note currency.

There is so much goodwill for the new president Mr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa. I saw this goodwill on Saturday 18 November 2017 the day hundreds of thousands of us marched along 4^th street Harare on the way to State House to demand Robert Mugabe’s resignation. It was clear that the incoming president would be Mr Mnangagwa and I saw a number of urban voters of all races who in the past have previously mostly supported MDC since 2000 elections holding placards of Mr Mnangagwa and General Chiwenga. Speaking for myself a staunch MDC- T supporter, I was resigned to the fact that Grace Mugabe would become the Vice President of Zimbabwe and there was nothing that anyone could do about it. As I took the flight to Harare from Johannesburg on the morning of the march, I was very grateful for the personal sacrifices that the army leadership had taken to make sure that the reign of Robert Mugabe comes to an end. As I have written before, even if the devil himself had come forward and said he was taking over from Mugabe, I suspect we would still have marched in support as well as we were very desperate to see Mugabe’s back. Now as the new president spelled out in his inaugural speech it is now time to rebuild the economy. I wish the president success in that endeavour as his success will be my success. I would have liked to see a transitional government for a few years to sort out the economy. At this rate if the elections are held in a worsening economic environment I do not see the incumbent winning a free and fair election as people are not seeing the changes a month after the march.

The unemployment level in Zimbabwe is estimated at around 95%, which means that the majority of gainfully employed Zimbabweans are currently employed outside the country in countries like New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia etc. It is very important that the government engages foreign direct investors to come to the country and revive the industry, equally the government should not forget the millions of Zimbabweans based outside the country who are on average earning much higher incomes than those obtaining back home. As the finance minister had previously shown in the national budget how significant the remittances from the diaspora are in earning the country foreign currency. It is my strong belief that to eradicate the current liquidity crisis, the country must immediately start using South African Rand as the primary currency in the short to medium term until production in the country increases then we can revert to our own currency.

Currently there are approximately over 400 000 Zimbabweans working legally in South Africa on work permits, permanent residency permits or have acquired South African citizenship. There is an estimate of an even bigger number of Zimbabweans who are not documented mainly working informally but still being able to earn decent incomes every month e.g. there is a lot of motor mechanics, builders, plumbers, domestic workers, waiters, carpenters, petrol attendants, security guards, drivers, welders, painters, tilers, farm workers, informal traders etc. in South Africa. Also there are several thousands of Zimbabweans working in other Southern African Custom Union countries i.e. Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho and Namibia of which the South African Rand is the anchor currency in all these countries except Botswana. There is also tens of thousands of Zimbabweans in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia of whom South Africa is one of their biggest trading partners and these countries accept the Rand. One should count the huge number of buses leaving Johannesburg every day for various parts of Zimbabwe to see the level of integration between South Africa and Zimbabwe.

From my experience, I have failed to see the sense why we can’t adopt the South African Rand. In 2016 to 2017 farming season, I decided to grow tobacco back home in Zimbabwe. When I had to buy fertilizer at Omnia fertilizer shop along 4^th Street in Harare, I had to exchange my South African Rands first to Bond notes at the illegal money dealers at Roadport and then buy the fertilizer. This did not make sense to me as that fertilizer that I bought was being offloaded straight from haulage trucks coming from South Africa. So I come with Rands and go to illegal money changers were they change the money at a premium, I then go and pay with Bond notes. Now when Omnia now wants to go and replenish the stock, they go and line up for scarce foreign currency at the Reserve bank or go to Roadport and buy forex at a premium when they could have simply sold the fertilizer for Rand and then not bother the Reserve bank. The people who were helping us in the tobacco fields preferred that we buy groceries for them instead of giving them cash as the prices of groceries in rural areas are always inflated. So we went to Mahomed Mussa Wholesalers and when we wanted to pay for the groceries using South African Rand, they were quoting us ridiculous rates of $1:16 when the official rate was below $1:13 and we were forced to go to the illegal money changers where we got rates that were even better than the official bank rates. The irony is that when you go into Zimbabwean supermarkets the majority of the products on the shelves are from South Africa or the raw materials are from South Africa. They refuse to accept the Rand which they can use to import the products themselves without joining the queue at the Reserve bank or going to the parallel market to devalue the bond note further and then having to increase the prices of goods.

A lot Zimbabweans who were raised in the country unlike our children still have an emotional attachment to the country and they think of returning to the country one day. A lot of urban councils are failing to raise revenue when they could easily develop residential stands and sell them on instalments to the millions of Zimbabweans in the diaspora who can afford and raise the much needed revenue and foreign currency for the country. This will bring extra income when people pay rates to the councils and also generate employment and business opportunities among the builders, electricians, labourers, hardware stores etc.  Another issue is the uncompetitive prices in tourism due to the US$. South Africa used to be the biggest source market for Zimbabwe tourism but now with the rates being quoted in US$ the prices are ridiculous and this is very surprising when you note that the workers in those sectors do not earn that much, who is benefiting?

 I remember towards end of 2012 my first work permit was expiring and I had applied for a permit renewal as well as permanent residency. I was not sure that my permit would be renewed and so in December 2012, my family went back to Zimbabwe. We had finished our two bedroom cottage at the end of 2010 and we then started construction for our main house. Like many parents, I worry about the quality of primary and secondary education in South Africa and it has always been my wish that my children also get the highly regarded Zimbabwe primary and secondary education. We then enrolled our two sons in a small private school where we were paying $3 000 per annum for the two kids. I remember then I was living frugally in South Africa and having to send most of my salary earnings back to Zimbabwe to pay the builders, buy building materials, pay living expenses, pay school fees etc. During my visits to Zimbabwe, I would also meet many more Zimbabweans who were in a similar situation to mine. After the 2013 election went the way it did, I decided to bring my family back to South Africa and stopped the construction and then concentrated on South Africa. My builder, the labourers, the school that my sons were going to, our local supermarket and indeed the country lost my modest monthly income. Imagine if say thousands of people in a similar situation to mine took the same decision of turning their back to the country what is the impact on the country. I know when the government considers foreign investment they are only looking at big companies but as individuals the cumulative incomes that we can potentially bring to the country is quite substantial.

 Whilst I understand the rational why the west imposed targeted sanctions on the country's leadership, their impact are actually felt by all of us. I remember when Makro became part of Wal-Mart; they had to close their two outlets in Harare and Bulawayo due to the American sanctions. Another reason why the sanctions are not desirable is the fact that Mr Munangagwa is my president even though I am an MDC supporter. With sanctions hanging above his head, will he be able to go and sign bilateral agreements with the countries that have sanctioned him? Imagine someone telling me that he has only sanctioned me and not my kids and this is dishonesty of the highest order. If you sanction me, then you have indirectly sanctioned my family as well as I provide for them. So the sanctions must be removed. At the same time, leadership should not use those sanctions as a scapegoat for their mismanagement of the country's economy, they should continue with the reforms and proper management of the country so that we can prosper as a country in spite of the sanctions.

As the new government looks around for investments, I suggest they prioritise South Africa. Most South African companies stuck with Zimbabwe even when the economic environment was not favourable. Also the fact that South Africa has not introduced sanctions on our leaders means it will be easier for a South African company to directly invest in Zimbabwe than say an American company that will fear having to pay huge fines back home. South African companies are also reported to be sitting at hundreds of billions of Rands and we must aggressively court them as the first port of call. I remember companies like Woolworths tried to come to Zimbabwe a few years ago and they ended up closing down and the same with Shoprite that was only maintaining one shop in Bulawayo waiting for the right time. I also need to talk about my profession the insurance industry. With the problems we have had since 2000 a lot of Zimbabwean assets are now directly insured externally and this not only takes away our much needed foreign currencies but it takes away jobs in the insurance sector out of the country to South Africa. A lot of Zimbabwean informal traders in neighbouring countries are not banked because they are not documented, channels such as Ecocash can actually bring them on board if we adopt a credible currency and their families and the Zimbabwean economy in general can potentially access this forex that can run into tens of millions of Rands. This can help to cut the very high commissions being charged to send money to Zimbabwe from neighbouring countries plus the exchange rate losses when the money is changed from Rands to US dollars. As we speak more and more diasporans are now shunning the official channels of sending money to Zimbabwe due to the bond note distortions.

As we speak now this bond note crisis where transfer rates can go up as much as a premium of 80% means that the salaries of workers in Zimbabwe have effectively been halved and it seems we are going back to the undesirable period of 2008 inflation levels. In October 2017, I was offered tobacco seedlings enough for 2 hectares and when I looked at the price of fertilizer, increased costs of other inputs and the devaluing bond notes, I decided against growing tobacco again until the currency issue was resolved. In the last farming season, I brought in tens of thousands of South African Rands for tobacco farming and the Reserve bank governor had promised payment in forex. When we sold the tobacco all we got was bond notes. To access those bonds notes my cousin and his wife had to queue for weeks to access the money. At least at that time the rate was still 1:1 with the US dollar. A lot of Zimbabweans are making the journey back home for the holidays right now, why are they not allowed to bring in 1 or 2 bags of fertilizer to give their families back home. The current prices of fertilizer in Zimbabwe will affect the current farming season. As a pig farmer in Zimbabwe, I worry about the price distortions brought about by the bond notes, corrugated iron sheets that we use for constructing pig shelters that costs around R65 in South Africa, are being sold for around $21 in Zimbabwe. At the same time one is not allowed to bring in those roofing sheets without an import permit and people are forced to smuggle them into the country. Another irony is that with the way that the bond note has devalued against the Rand, petrol is now cheaper in Zimbabwe than in South Africa even though fuel is heavily taxed in Zimbabwe than in South Africa!

Despite the political differences, I wish our new government success and hope the economy turns around and that the standards of living of our people starts to improve. For that to happen, we need to get a stable currency and improve liquidity, this will certainly enable proper running of businesses and make sure that workers don’t spend productive hours queuing at banks. We need to bring dignity back to our people both inside the country and outside the country. It is hard being a foreigner and we hope by working together we can grow our economy from wherever we are so that those who want to come back home and can come back to a prosperous Zimbabwe.

 

God bless Zimbabwe!

I am for free tertiary education done responsibly

I have noticed the way Jacob Zuma operates is very much like Robert Mugabe. He operates unilaterally; he surrounds himself with incompetent ministers and fires competent ministers. Like Mugabe, Zuma seems to think that a country can never go bankrupt. Zuma’s unilateral actions in announcing free higher education is meant to help his favoured faction without regard to the economy. After the court judgements of last week, I do not think Zuma still has the moral authority to continue ringing these far-reaching changes that will surely affect the economy. For the record as a person who came from a poor working class family, I support free funded government tertiary education done in a responsible way. I started primary school education a few years after Zimbabwe’s independence. My father before his death in 1990 was a police constable and my mother was not working. I went to township schools that were fully funded by the government and I have written in my blog how we used to pay only $6 Zimbabwean dollars per year as school fees up to grade 7. For secondary education, I also went to township schools and they were very cheap. I only went to a former group A or a previously whites only school during the days of segregation (equivalence of a model C school) for the two years of A’Level as the township schools in my town only went up to O’level at that time.

After A’Level the government was fully funding university education and students were getting generous grants from the government as well. For those who did not go to university there were fully funded teachers’ colleges, polytechnic colleges, nursing training, apprenticeship, training as a radiographer etc. One could also join private sector or the civil service and get in house training. I then joined a South African owned Insurance company and I got trained internally and the company also paid for my foreign based insurance studies. After the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy starting with the fall of the Zimbabwean dollar in 1997, now university education is no longer free and university standards have fallen sharply. Top government ministers started sending their children to overseas universities to countries such as Australia, United Kingdom and United States. Now parents who can afford it now sends their children to South Africa as Zimbabwean universities standards have fallen and at the same time many university lecturers also left Zimbabwe due to the poor living standards in the country. Zimbabwe university degrees are no longer highly regarded. I am sure many people have read how Grace Mugabe got her doctorate in a record time of only a few months at the once prestigious University of Zimbabwe. I personally know someone who is working in South Africa who came to this country already with a Zimbabwean accounting degree and he is currently again studying for an accounting degree with a South African university just to get ahead in his career. With unemployment level of 95% in Zimbabwe, I advise my close family members to rather pursue their degrees in South Africa for better employment prospects. Two years ago a cousin of mine was complaining that her daughter was pursuing a degree at a Zimbabwe university of which there was virtually no industry for it in Zimbabwe and she could not get attachment in order to complete her degree.

Fully funded tertiary education is very important towards bridging the racial divide gap in South Africa especially as it allows the majority of the black citizens to acquire the necessary skills and also join the middle class. In Zimbabwe after independence a lot of black citizens managed to get training to become teachers, nurses, artisans, managers, lawyers, doctors, radiographers, economists etc. That is why it was far much easier for skilled Zimbabweans to settle in United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia etc. when the economy collapsed in Zimbabwe as they had the necessary skills thanks to the educational policies of the government. Whilst the government is pursuing that noble goal of skilling its people, it must still manage the country’s fiscus in a prudent manner so that those newly skilled black professionals join a growing economy. South African economy is not growing largely as a result of the way that Zuma has managed this country and there is looming downgrades, devaluation of the currency, high unemployment etc. I am very fearful of the reaction of the markets when they open on Monday. We can’t afford the continuous devaluation in the Rand. As we speak we are paying record petrol prices even though the oil price is nowhere nearer the $150 per barrel experienced on the world market a few years ago.

As a parent whose son will be going to university in about 3 years, I am also now looking for overseas university education or private university education locally. I had a front row seat in Zimbabwe when the decay started to manifest itself. South Africa seems to be going that way and I am very worried about what the future holds and the end result will be the same it’s a question of different cast but with the same script and it will certainly produce the same result.

THE WORLD DOES NOT OWE ZIMBABWE ANYTHING

Before I went to bed on Thursday 30 November 2017 I had misplaced hope when it comes to Zimbabwe. I had picked up this hope on Saturday 18 November the day we marched to State House to demand Mugabe’s resignation. I had advised my wife that I had decided to go to Zimbabwe the following day with plans to spend more money in our piggery project and expand it further. My wife’s answer was that she was weary of us keeping on spending money in Zimbabwe as we had lost a lot of money in Zimbabwe in the past. The same week that Emmerson Munangagwa was fired, I had over a dozen pigs ready for market and we were battling to get buyers. The day after the general went on Zimbabwe TV to announce the coup that was not a coup, I started getting phone calls from Zimbabwe and a number of people wanted to buy the whole lot. I decided maybe lets increase the breeding stock and not sell and hopefully in 12 month time we might have a stock of 500 pigs and maybe invest in the butchery equipment and open our own butcheries in Zimbabwe as we constantly get raw deals from the guys we supply meat to. Is it a Southern African thing to have these cabinets announced just before midnight, look Zuma’s dubious cabinet reshuffles are always announced around midnight?

I woke up the following day and saw the cabinet and at first I thought it was just a joke. At 5am, I went out for my 5km morning run and when I came back my wife had also woken up and she had also read the news. I have since shelved my plans and it’s time to wait and see what happens in the next election. The rulers in Zimbabwe need to know that the world does not owe anything to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has to fight for and attract scarce resources from an open market. If I as a Zimbabwean am more comfortable to keep my hard earned money in a foreign country, do they expect a foreigner to come and invest?

Yesterday they were blaming Morgan Tsvangirai for their cabinet. Someone pointed out that if that is the case that Tsvangirai threatened his lieutenants not to join this cabinet why did they not consider other people outside MDC-T. In the previous GNU government there were many competent ministers who are not in Tsvangirai’s party, people such as Elton Mangoma, Tendai Biti, David Coltart, Whelsman Ncube, Priscilla Misihairabwi etc my question is why were they not considered? Also there are other Zanu -PF aligned MPs such as Temba Mliswa and Paul Mangwana to choose from.  There is also other qualified people such as Nkosana Moyo who were also not considered.

We had already decided as a family that we are not going to Zimbabwe this Christmas holiday as all our kids despise going to Zimbabwe. Although I have a lot of hope for Zimbabwe, I remember we used to say who ever comes after Mugabe cannot be worse and the economy will improve. However we need to see the world for what it is and not according to how we want it to be. If the economy does not improve, the generals can never win a free and fair election.

 

God bless Zimbabwe

Why I am rooting for my new president

Everyone has a story to tell when it comes to Robert Mugabe. Like millions of Zimbabweans, I was resigned to the fact that Robert Mugabe would be my president until he dies. However it was the thought that Grace Mugabe would succeed him that that made me want to puke. To be honest Zimbabweans never really liked Grace Mugabe even years before she opened her mouth and uttered those taboo words. Second wives are always accused of taking another man's wife. I remember growing up in police camps and I would hear women saying,"akatora murume wemunhu" meaning she stole someone's man/husband. Obviously this is just perpetuation of patriarchy where only the second wife is blamed but not the husband who is thought of being helpless to the charms of the second wife. In all my stay in Zimbabwe, I had never experienced such behaviour as exhibited by Grace Mugabe from any lady. I had stayed with both my grandmothers, my mother, my mother in law, all my aunts, my sisters in law etc. and none of them had behaved like our former first lady. I had only noticed such behaviour from intoxicated people or those that had a mental illness. From 1989 to 1990 we had stayed at Mbizo Police station in Kwekwe and our house was right next to the gate and around 300 metres from the gate there was the council's Garandichauya bar. There ladies of the night would walk to and from the bar and when they were intoxicated they would shout obscenities.

 I had promised myself that after Mugabe dies in office, I would visit Heroes Acre once more to make sure that he is gone for good. This would be second time I would have visited the shrine. The only other time I visited Heroes Acre was in 1999 during the burial of Vice President Joshua Nkomo, I had gone to pay my respects to this great stateman, I walked all the way from Avondale. So on 18 November 2017, I woke up in Pretoria around midnight as I normally sleep only for a few hours. I started looking for any available flights to Harare. I had two challenges that morning, firstly to wake up my wife Manyoni and disturb her sleep, she loves her sleep very much and also to convince her that I was going to spend so much money that morning. My sales experience came in handy as I was on my way to O.R Tambo airport by 4am. I landed in Harare around 10am. As I disembarked from the taxi along Robert Mugabe road that morning, I kept on pinching myself to make sure that I was not dreaming,where all these people demonstrating against the all powerful and mighty Robert Mugabe for real?


Robert Mugabe Road in the morning of the demonstration

 I really wanted to go to Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfied for the gathering but I had to go home first to catch up on sleep and also to recharge my phone. Highfield has special significance for me as I was born at Harare hospital just a few kilometres away. In line with the Shona custom as the first child, I was supposed to be born at my mother's parents home in Murewa. When the days of my birth drew closer, my mother went to Murewa hospital. She then had complications and she was transferred to Salisbury as Harare was known then during the colonial era. The referral hospital for blacks was Harare Hospital also known as Kugomo and I was delivered there through ceasarian section. My father's uncle has a house in Highfield and also at that time my mother's eldest brother had bought a house in the nearby high density suburb of Glen Norah upon his return from Zambia with his Zambian wife and we alternated among the two houses. Growing up I was naughty and my mother always reminded me that as a child born via operation (ceasarian section) I should not give her so much grief as she had suffered so much for me and also that whenever the weather was cold she would feel the pain from that operation.

After lunch I took a taxi back to Harare city centre and started moving up the road with crowds of people along fourth street on the way to State House. I passed by Eagle House where I started my insurance career 20years ago. The special place for me was along Samora Machel avenue where the president's office is housed. In August 2007 in the company of my wife a few weeks before I left Zimbabwe to escape the dire economic situation and settle in Pretoria, I was assaulted by an armed police guard in the evening on our way back to Holiday Inn hotel from First Street. I had decided that it would be safer to pass through Samora Machel Avenue as it would be safe from any potential muggers due to the presence of armed guards.


Along Samora Machel Avenue

I eventually made it to within 100 metres of the State House and everyone was jovial and the soldiers were friendly. State House induces fear in many Zimbabweans, it is not like The Union Buildings here in Pretoria where families go there for a Sunday picnic. When I was working in Harare, I tried to avoid driving nearer to State House as much as possible. Manyoni was working in Borrowdale and my biggest client was also in Borrowdale so I had to go there most days. The most direct way to go to Borrowdale was to drive past State House. I would avoid the State House by either driving up Second street (now Sam Nujoma street) and then turn right towards the University of Zimbabwe campus or go via Newlands and then Highlands. The soldiers and police guarding State House are very brutal, I once saw a motorist being forced to push his car alone all the way past State House after it had broken down. I almost had a run in with the goons around 2004 when my company issued Mazda double cab bakkie stalled next to Prince Edward school on the corner of Princes road and Prince Edward street. Unbeknown to me the motor cade of Robert Mugabe was going to pass through that intersection on his way to Zanu-PF headquarters. Two men wearing suits whom I suspected to be members of the dreaded CIO stopped and ordered me to push my car off the road, I could not push the bakkie on my own as it was very heavy. After about 30 minutes another car stopped by and I explained to them that I could not push the car on my own and the two security officers then helped me to push the bakkie off the road.



A long suffering Arsenal fan in our midst




Banner asking Zimbabweans in the diaspora to come home

 I am rooting for our new President Mr Emmerson Munangagwa even though, I have consistently voted for Morgan Tsvangirai and his party since 2000. I was hoping that he was going to put together a transitional government for a few years and sort out the economy and postpone the elections. Myself as a farmer and businessman, his success is my success. I feel like the economic failures of Zimbabwe always follow me wherever I go. Zimbabwe should move away from being the skunk of Sourthern Africa. I am tired of being a foreigner. Being a foreigner is hard my friends. My experience has been always to expect the answer,"No", and when that answer is served, it always crashes my spirits. I long to be part of a society where I have equal opportunities like everyone else without anyone telling me that I do not qualify because I am not a citizen. I also want the same for my children as I worry that if they experience what I have experienced as a foreigner they might not handle it well.

On Sunday 2 September 2007 my brother in law was then pursuing his doctorate at University of Pretoria and also my youngest sister was pursuing her masters' degree at the same university. My brother in law asked me to accompany him to the main campus in Hatfield Pretoria. Whilst he was busy discussing with fellow PHD candidates who were all from other African countries and mostly Zimbabweans, I was reading the column by the late editor of Zimbabwe Standard newspaper Mr Bill Saidi. I then wrote to him recounting my story and on the following weekend he wrote the following  column http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/sep9a_2007.html#Z20

When optimism buys you zilch

Zim Standard

  sundayopinion by Bill Saidi

IN the evening, when you and your wife are walking back to your hotel,
after tucking into expensive but delicious pizza, it is downright
humiliating to be asked to lie down flat on your belly in the street.

Depending on your threshold of tolerance, you might decide there and
then to leave the country of your birth for the wild blue yonder.

Some people might call this over-reaction; others might, at a pinch,
propose that this display of cruelty to a man's dignity was the last straw.

Which is what it was for the man who wrote this to me last week:

"Events over the past three months left me with no choice. At the end
of June, I left my position as a branch manager of an insurance company. I
just wanted to concentrate on my business(es); three grocery shops, a
seven-tonne lorry, a minibus and a pick-up.

"As much as my branch manager position gave me a lot of prestige, it
no longer made sense for me to continue earning a salary that could barely
fill (up) a tank of petrol. So I left it all - a good Toyota twin cab truck,
a three-bedroomed house, with a swimming pool in a posh suburb and all the
prestige, to concentrate on my indigenous businesses."

This Zimbabwean is writing from Pretoria: "I am starting work tomorrow
exactly 12 days after having collected my quota work permit at the SA
embassy in Harare. I had to leave Zimbabwe in a huff, maybe I had no choice
or maybe I had a choice but I am just a coward."

He was responding to my piece last week, Up Close and Personal. . .in
Agony

For him, the clincher was an encounter with armed men guarding
Munhumutapa building in Harare. In his own words:

"On our way back to the hotel, I decided that as it was past seven, it
was no longer safe for us to use Kwame Nkrumah Avenue and I suggested we use
Samora Machel Avenue and this should be safe for us since there would be
police guarding Munhumutapa building. As we approached Munhumutapa building
the metal button of my jacket accidentally hit against the metal section of
the telephone substation next to the pavement. At that time the armed police
asked my wife. Ambuya, chiyi chamakanda pahwindo? (Lady, what did you just
throw at the window?)"

Here, I am inclined to say "The rest is history". But I suspect some
people will not be content until I give them what others call the "full
Monty" or the whole enchilada. But what followed was almost routine, vintage
Zimbabwean.

After a few exchanges with the soldiers, he ended up lying flat on his
belly, in front of his understandably flabbergasted wife. It was his wife's
comment later to which he thought I ought to pay special attention:

"Shamwari, iwe ne optimism yako! Let's leave the country. You see,
that policeman could just have killed you . . . just like that (snap of the
fingers? and got away with it."

Evidently, it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. The couple had
been contemplating it for some time, as other couples - single men and
women, confirmed old bachelors and middle-aged spinsters and families - have
done since 2000.

Nobody with even a cursory understanding of Zanu PF politics, since
Gukurahundi, could imagine them reacting to this human haemorrhage with
anything other than "Who cares?" or "So what?"

Life in exile has never been a bed of roses, not in the Americas, in
Europe, Asia, Africa or Australasia.

Not everyone who has fled the economic and political squalor of
countries such as Zimbabwe has eventually finished up as a human Zero. The
people who escaped Nazi terror included the German-born Werner von Broun and
Albert Einstein. They became living legends in their adopted country, the
USA.

This should not encourage young Zimbabwean nerds or eggheads to flee
to South Africa in the hope that, while there, they might discover a Nobel
Prize-winning chemical that, when secreted into the womb, will ensure no
African child is born with the genes that could turn them into maniacal
dictators - although this might solve a lot of problems for the continent.

Zimbabweans have eventually done well in many fields of human
endeavour, once they have braved the scourge of xenophobia that afflicts
every country in the world.

The South Africans are divided over what status to accord Zimbabweans
escaping what has been called The Mugabe Menace: bona fide refugees or
economic asylum seekers?

So far, Zimbabweans do not enjoy the status of refugees: their country
is not in a state of civil war - well, not physically, anyway - nor has
their president declared publicly everyone who opposes his regime must be
fed to the lions in Gonarezhou.

What he has done, not in so many words, is to indicate, chillingly,
graphically, that opposing Zanu PF too openly can be very costly - at least,
to your health.

You will be starved of food, either with empty supermarket shelves or
the denial of food aid from donors.

Personally, my sympathies lie with both sides - the cowards and the
people of courage who decide to stick it out to the end.

Incidentally, I spent 17 years in another country, before 1980. I have
mixed feelings about my period there. Mostly, I wonder how I survived that
long.

saidib@standard.co.zw

Zimbabwe police favours the status quo

Here is a quick guide why the Zimbabwe Police leadership was not part of the security forces press conference on Monday.

 

The Status Quo Benefits the Police

Some people have joked that the police should now be renamed to Zimbabwe Revenue Police. Ideally any revenue that the police collect should be passed on to the Consolidated Revenue Fund at the Treasury but that is no longer the case as the police now retain all the monies. We all know that Zimbabwe has been a police state from the colonial times. Now the police commanders not only commands the brute police force but now they are in charge of all the revenue that the police now collects. At Beitbridge border there is a police post where all the border jumpers are required to pay a fine of R320 or US$20 and that money goes straight to the police. A bus I boarded from Pretoria to Harare on 2 October 2017 about 75% of the passengers had to pay that fine to the police. It is estimated that between 50 and 100 buses cross from South Africa into Zimbabwe each day and you can see how lucrative this is for the police.  A mere 50 metres from the border gate, there is the first traffic check point where all the cross border buses get stopped to pay the spot fine for being behind time. Obviously because of the delays at the border post each and every bus has to pay that spot fine as they cant stick to their official time table.

From Beitbridge to Harare if you travel during the day, you can encounter over 15 police check points. At each and every check point the police will charge motorists spot fines for various traffic offences.  During October 2017, I was going to Zimbabwe every week and I was once given a lift by a police officer from Beitbridge to Harare. The officer told me that they had daily targets to meet and that is why they never caution a motorist and  for any traffic offence they must collect a fine. My house about 18km from Harare city, there is at least 5 traffic check points along that short distance. If you board a minibus taxi even though legally they are only allowed to have 15 passengers, they can fit between 18 to 22 passengers per journey. What happens is that each morning they pay the spot fines to the police and they use those ticket receipts for the whole day. So in Harare and across the country, you will find the overcrowded and clearly not roadworthy  commuter taxis moving around each day and the police are not bothered as long as they have collected the fines for the day. In my view these fines are actually just taxes that the police charges for their own use. Zimbabwe being generally a peaceful country, a lot of the police officers are sent to collect revenue for the police.

We all know that Zimbabwe is now a failed state. From the little revenue that the Government gets, they try to prioritise the military but clearly due to the economic policies of the regime as well as the lack of rule of law there is no new investment in the country hence the government is living on borrowed time. Ordinary soldiers even though they get their salaries paid first ahead of all other civil servants, they still have to go and queue at the banks where there is no cash. Contrast this with the police; whilst the police officers are collecting fines for their bosses, they also get bribes. In government hospitals there are even shortages of penicillin but we can see police officers moving around in their new Israeli made Anti-riot water tanks, new Scania trucks and brand new ford pick-up trucks as they generate their own revenue. From my brief stay in Zimbabwe, I discovered that the most hated group of people where the police officers, the first lady, Jonathan Moyo and his G40. To borrow a statement coined by Secretary Hillary Clinton. I would also term all these group of people as a basket of deplorables.  Ordinary citizens now commends people who run away from the traffic police.

A look at the leadership of the police

Many years ago, a childhood friend who was working in the police protection unit which is a police unit tasked with protecting VIPs told me that the core bodyguards for Mugabe are made up mainly of his close relatives. Six years ago Mugabe promoted Innocent Matibiri a close relative to be the deputy Commissioner General and is now in charge of operations in the Zimbabwe police. So the current police leadership also has a vested personal interest in the status quo.

 

In conclusion

It’s no secret that the majority of the people will welcome a military coup but that will not be the solution. Also a Munangagwa’s presidency is not the answer. Some of us who grew up in Kwekwe where Munangagwa was the Zanu-PF member of Parliament witnessed the violence in the 1985 and 1990 general elections. We urgently need a National Transitional Authority in Zimbabwe as no meaningful election can be held in Zimbabwe. We must avoid the route that Egypt took after the demise of the Mubarak’s regime. I also watched Gwede Mantashe ANC Secretary General’s statement on Zimbabwe. May I remind ANC government and all the neighbouring countries that after former President Thabo Mbeki’s role in aiding and abetting the Mugabe’s regime in subverting the will of Zimbabwe people from the 2000 election. As Morgan Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe is no longer a foreign affairs issue for South Africa but it is now a domestic issue. The current ANC government should own up and help to solve this issue before it disintergrates further. One can read the Kamphepe report on the 2002 Zimbabwe presidential election compiled by former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke and Judge Sisi Kamphepe on how the elections were stolen https://mg.co.za/article/2014-11-14-khampepe-zimbabwes-2002-elections-not-free-and-fair

Happy Birthday to my best friend

 Happy birthday to my dearest Betty also known as Onita or Mai Denny  

I first saw this beauty in early 1999. One evening on my way home from work, I boarded the Chawasarira Bus from Harare City Centre to Chitungwiza. I happened to sit next to this beauty; she was sleeping half the journey. At first, I was scared to talk to her and then I was like what do I have to lose? I even tried to impress you with my newly acquired 3^rd hand Ericson cellphone by phoning my mother’s home from my newly acquired Econet prepaid Buddie line and you were not impressed. Luckily you still gave me a chance, by the time you disembarked from the bus, I had your CABS head office work number and I had also given you my office telephone number at Eagle Insurance company and I challenged you to phone me at work.

The following working day, you phoned me on my office number. From then onwards we would talk over the phone for close to an hour most days. I don’t know how even now, we can always talk for hours and hours. During weekends and after work, I would phone on your father’s cellphone and ask to speak to you.  As I got to know you, I was impressed that you knew exactly what you wanted in life and you were so opinionated. One weekend around 2000-2001 you said you did not feel like going out and I should come to your parent’s home with video cassettes. I was so nervous when I thought of all those brothers of yours. We sat in the tv lounge whilst your mother was busy with her sewing machine. The first movie I think it was from Jean-Claude Van Damme and it went very well. Your father then came in and also sat in the lounge when we started playing Leon Schuster’s Panic Mechanic. I was so embarrassed when the movie started to play and I wished I could just disapper.

For the few months I stayed in Chitungwiza, I would bump into you in the bus and it was always my pleasure to offer you my seat and then continue the journey as a standing passenger. I might have hidden from you on some days when I also very tired to stand-up the whole 25km of the journey and I will spend the rest of my days making it up to you. When our relationship got serious, we would meet after work in Harare city centre upstairs at KFC Jason Moyo avenue and those days all we could afford was the ice cream.

 Up to when I met you, I had never really thought of settling down. I knew it was time to introduce you to the beautiful and strong women in my life, my sisters, my aunt in Sunningdale and my mother. Growing up, I remember some of the stories whenever I went to the village during school holidays about marrying someone from Masvingo and my eldest cousin had married from Masvingo. When I met you I did not care what my relatives would say, I was okay with marrying Wezhira. Marrying you is the best decision that I made in my life. We share many interests such as reading widely and the love for travelling.

We have been through so many changes in our life. Remember the days we started staying together as a couple in Avondale in September 2001 when we did not have much and we could not even afford a fridge and then moving houses, relocating to Bulawayo and finally having to leave our country of birth to come to South Africa. Thank you for being a pillar of strength. They say you can be as good as the company that you keep, thank you for being in my board of directors and I know any idea that I come up with must always stand up to your usual scrutiny. Thanks for trying to make me a better man and I hope to listen more to you. I have learnt a lot from you and at times, I have to remind you that you are no longer working at CABS mortgage department as you are more forceful that I always have to pay my debts on time.

Thank you Manyoni for making me the happiest man alive in the short 16 years that we have been married. Thank you for being a wonderful mother to our boys. Thank you for also being a mother to my brothers and sisters, I owe you a lot for taking in my siblings into our home at their greatest time of need when my mother also followed my father to a better place. I know you did not have to, you just did and you never complained about it. I believe my parents were able to rest in peace knowing that you and I would take care of their children.

May the good lord bless you, make all your dreams come true and give you an awesome life ahead.

Happy Birthday baby Ra Dabbie
 

Response to Nicolette

Disclaimer: This message is based on my personal experience in the insurance industry and is not affiliated to any firm or any individual.

https://www.facebook.com/FinancialFitnessBunny/videos/1189749327823574

Dear Nicolette

 

I watched your video on Wednesday 11 October 2017 whilst sitting in a bus at Mbare Musika bus terminus in Harare on my way to our rural home. You know the price of data in Zimbabwe is actually a human rights issue, I mean how can they charge so much in an impoverished country? Any way the topic you were discussing interested me very much and I had no choice to but to watch until the end and in the process my battery and data were drained and I promised to respond when I came back to SA.

 

I think you were treated unfairly. I do not consider my- self an expert in Insurance but I know one or two things about insurance.  I worked for almost 20 years in the insurance industry and I left the industry beginning of October 2017. Firstly I worked for almost 10 years in the Zimbabwe Insurance industry starting in underwriting, then claims, then briefly as an insurance broker and finally as a middle manager in charge of underwriting and claims. I also passed my Insurance fellowship exams in 2005. In 2007 when the Zimbabwe economic situation became unbearable, I migrated to South Africa and I got employed as a claims advisor in an insurance firm and I worked there for just over 10 years. My role in SA involved mainly business claims and I also did personal claims for about 3 years and also briefly acted as a claims team manager for 2 months. As someone who is not currently affiliated to any insurance firm, I will try to be impartial as much as possible.

I would have liked to have read a copy of your policy wording before responding to your video. In any case, I will use the knowledge I have gained from my insurance studies, Multi-Mark policy wording which is a standardised policy wording that the insurance industry used in the past until the Competition authorities discouraged the practice and I will use the knowledge I gained in the claims environment of the 5 insurance companies that I worked for plus the practice of many more insurance companies I worked closely with as an insurance broker.

In general cellphone and other portable items that you take away from your home/house are covered on an All Risks Basis. Such items include your camera, laptop, jewellery on a person, watches, clothing such as your kids school uniform or your clothing that you take away with you from home e.g baggage that you take with you for an overseas holiday.  All Risks cover when you compare it with your household furniture has important differences.

• Items on All Risks  has  a wider cover e.g you will be covered for accidental damage, theft e.t.c.  When you read the cover on All Risks the defined events are simply listed as “ Loss of or damage to item”, which in theory means anything that happens to the item is covered unless if it is specifically excluded. On the other hand the household policy (House contents policy) and the Home Owners (Buildings policy) only lists specific perils such as falling trees, fire, lightning, explosion, earth quakes etc. So for a perils policy you are only covered for the listed perils subject to the conditions, general exceptions, clauses, warranties, specific exceptions e.t.c
• An All Risks policy covers you on a world- wide basis e.g if you take your cellphone to Ghana with you it will be automatically covered as it is covered anywhere in the world. Whereas your TV in your house will only be covered at the address noted on your policy schedule (of course if you take it for repairs there might be extensions to cover you for that)
• Cover on an All Risks Basis is normally more expensive as it has more wider cover than the normal Perils policy, hence the cellphone cover is normally very expensive as well as the Comprehensive Motor Insurance cover that is also on an All Risks Basis.

Another very important issue to consider is that insurance is only part of the Risk Management equation. In general individuals and firms are exposed to risks, e.g risks of theft, fire, liability, reputational damages e.t.c. After having analysed the risks an individual will decide on what to do with the risks they are faced with. The decision might be to transfer the risks to the insurance company in return the individual will pay a premium to the insurance company. In most cases the insurance company will require an individual to pay an excess which in turn means that the individual is then forced to retain part of the risks. In other cases the individual might decide to retain the risks and they will try to mitigate the risks e.g by employing a guard, putting a tracker on a vehicle, erecting burglar bars around the premises e.t.c. Also note by mitigating the risks, an individual might actually be able to get insurance at much lower insurance premiums.

 

Coming to Cell phone Insurance

My experience with Cell phone insurance is that it is a very expensive insurance cover to get. I remember around 1998-1999 in Zimbabwe when the premiums for the cellphones increased drastically to match the losses experienced.  Also part of being financially savvy is to always consider the cost versus benefit. I am a stingy man and I do not buy cell phone on contract, I only buy a phone up to R3 000.00 and I use pre-paid (I used to use contract cellphone when the company was paying the bill). Because of the relatively cheap phones I use, it is not economical for me to insure the cellphone.  One must always consider the premiums that you are charged on a cellphone together with the excess that you will be required to pay in the event of a claim. For example if the premiums that you contribute over say 12 to 18 months (a normal life span of a cellphone) plus the excess exceeds 50% of the value of the cellphone, the question is, is it rational to insure the cellphone?

Whether your cellphone is insured or not, you should always know the IMEI number of your cellphone which is a unique number to your phone (you might consider it to be the VIN number of your phone). You get the IMEI number of your phone by Dialling *#06#. Should your cellphone get stolen or lost you will need the IMEI number in order to block the cellphone with network company and also to open a case with the police. My understanding is that once a cellphone is blocked it cannot be used again in the country. It is very important for everyone to block any lost or stolen cellphone as this will discourage the theft of the cellphones. I suspect that the blocked cellphones can be used in other countries (those who have the information might comment on this) in which case SADC, Interpol and Cellphone companies in neighbouring countries might cooperate in the same way stolen cars are recovered in neighbouring countries. Also as individuals we should desist from buying stolen property. Cellphone theft is a big issue in that it drives cellphone premiums high, theft of cellphones are often accompanied by violence. Our home is around Pretoria Central and I normally leave my cellphone at home after having been a victim of a cellphone mugging about two years ago.

I know there is a perception that insurance companies thrive on consumer ignorance. For your own information the industry is well regulated in South Africa, consider this statement from the then Minister of finance Mr. Trevor Manuel on the launch of the Ombudsman for Financial Service Providers, “The era of properly regulated financial services has dawned, which should banish the dark ages of non-disclosure, unreadable fine print, and mis-selling.”. From my experience when an operator realises that a claim is going to be rejected, he or she will first get permission from the supervisor. Once the supervisor agrees with the rejection, an official letter is then sent out to the client  mentioning the reasons for the rejection. The rejection letter will also spell out the recourse the client has e.g. appealing internally to the company in writing if the client is still not satisfied they will then refer the matter to the Ombudsman. It is important to realise that the ombudsman is very impartial and there is no cost to the client involved during the process.  Still if the client is not satisfied he or she will then approach the courts.

In your case Nicolette, I suggest you first get the letter with the rejection reasons in writing and then pick up a phone and ask to speak to a claims manager at the insurance company and if you are not satisfied then approach the insurance ombudsman. Believe you have nothing to lose by following this route. The insurance firms like any business they are also worried about their reputations.

 

My general observations from my experience in the industry

• Clients must always be honest. Insurance is based mainly on the law of contract hence it is always imperative to be truthful and disclose all relevant facts when you enter into the insurance contract and also at the time of claim. You should rather shop around for the best terms based on the correct facts.
• Ask questions if you are not sure. You are actually the boss you are the reason why that insurance company is in business. When a person finances a car they are in a hurry to get insurance and drive the car. Make sure that that you can afford to pay the quoted excess in the event of a claim. (Chances are if you can’t afford normal car instalment and normal insurance the vehicle might be beyond your budget).
• Financial literacy is key, some cars are in demand such that you will buy them at a value that is more than their replacement values. For example if your vehicle’s retail value is only R200 000.00 yet you buy the vehicle for R250 000.00, should that vehicle be stolen the next day the insurance company will only pay R200 000.00 which is the value of the vehicle. Make sure you take credit shortfall cover which is offered by both the insurance companies and also through the car dealership when you sign the hire purchase agreement.
• Now and again maybe after a year talk to your insurance company try to negotiate a better deal e.g maybe lowering your higher excess based on the good experience you have had with an insurance company.
• Minimise your risks. We all know which areas are more risky when it comes to insurance for example if you have a tracking device in your vehicle everytime you drive to that area they phone you to warn you. Chances are if you stay in that area your insurance premiums will also be high, this is a fact of statistics and not race, you might need to move to a new area that is cheaper for you in the long run. We all know which cars are prone to theft and hijackings, chances are if you buy that car it will be very expensive to buy and the insurance premiums will be unbearable. So you much choose wisely that is part of being financially savvy.

Thank you very much for your work in educating people about financial literacy.

 

Regards

 

Dabson

It is not goodbye, it is see you later

Photo taken at work by Kim Naidoo

After 10 years, one month and two days, today is my last day at OUTsurance. At the beginning of 2017, I knew I could not continue and it was time to try new things. We all need encouragement and special thanks to my friend and neighbour at work, Kim Naidoo who kept on encouraging me to wait until we reached our 10 years of service. OUTsurance is very special to me, more so due to the fact that I got this job a week after I left Zimbabwe and decided to settle in South Africa. I know I will never forget you guys, for you have enriched my life.

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 I was born and a raised in an environment where the dominant religions were African religion and Christianity. During my 10 years here at OUTsurance, I did interact with work colleagues, customers and suppliers who come from different backgrounds from my own. Indeed South Africa is a rainbow nation and I am proud to call South Africa my home. Even though we might look different, practice different religions, are believers or non- believers or regardless of our individual marital status. I was amazed to realise that most of the values that were instilled in me growing up in Zimbabwe are the same values shared by people of different backgrounds here in South Africa. I am reminded by what President Obama said during his Cairo speech when he said, “ ..all of us share common aspirations - to live in peace and security; to get an education and to work with dignity; to love our families, our communities, and our God. These things we share. This is the hope of all humanity.”

It’s not goodbye, but see you later. I hope to still meet you guys whether it is in the streets of Pretoria or Harare. To my friends on PBS, keep on being Awesome and know that each day counts and one must always put their best foot forward each and every day. Remember it always averages out!

Photo taken at our Zimbabwe home by my good friend Mereka Maruwira

Let’s keep on dreaming freaking BIG and learning from our mistakes. Although we can’t always control our environment and how other people treat us, one must try by all means not to become a victim for in most cases we alone as individuals have the ultimate power to choose what we do next.

Cheers

What I have learnt in my 21 years of working

beginning of September 2017 marks 21years of my formal working career. Here is what I have learnt over the years.

A great attitude makes all the difference

Growing up in my mother’s home, I was required to do chores. It was up to me to grumble all the way or to be positive about it and do my chores; it was more fun to do my chores in a positive attitude. At form 2 (equivalent of grade 9) I wrote the Zimbabwe Junior Certificate national exams and I failed mathematics. Luckily I still made it into the science class for the O’levels. In Zimbabwe for one to pass O’Level, you need to get 50% and above in five subjects including Mathematics, English Language and Science. The reality was for one to get a place in the best A ‘Level schools during the sixth form selection process which at that time was only merit based, you needed to get at least 5 distinctions at O’Level. My best friend James Chapuma taught me that I had to change my attitude towards all my teachers in the 8 subjects that I was doing, every subject mattered and counted towards getting 5 As. My Building studies and my Shona teachers started to like me as my grades improved. I had hated Building studies and Shona with a passion before then.

In July 2007, I resigned from my middle level management job in Zimbabwe and I came to South Africa and started a job at the level of a clerk and I have stayed at that level since. It was a big adjustment and I had a lot of disappointments when a number of employers would not consider foreigners for many suitable vacancies. I also attended a few internal management interviews and I always got the same feedback, “you are not visible!” I can guarantee that you won’t see me standing on top of a desk shouting and pretending to be someone who I am not. With every disappointment, I never lost focus of who I am and I never felt defeated. I continued to work even harder. In 2011, I won the overseas top performers award at work and I went for an 8 day long holiday to Thailand with my lovely wife. I went on to win the award two more times. People must realise that life is not fair; it is up to you as an individual to choose to be positive and make something with your life, each and every day you must choose to have a great attitude no matter how many hurdles that are placed in your path.

Even during my time as a teacher, I always had more respect for learners who struggled with the study material but had a positive attitude than for learners who quickly understood the concepts but did not care. A positive attitude is infectious to all those around you, whereas a bad attitude stinks. Even in a marriage you must have a positive attitude to life for all those up and more so for the downs.

It is okay to fail

In early 1996, my A ‘level results came out, I had passed all my three science subjects with lower grades, I did not make it to the University of Zimbabwe. I could not qualify even for a general BSc degree. This was the first time that I had failed to progress and I was crushed and I felt sick for a few months, I now know what I suffered from then is called depression. That experience of failure helped me the following year when I joined the insurance industry. I had to sacrifice and raise the foreign currency required to pay for the insurance studies. It was important for me to get a qualification. Five years later, I was able to get my first management role in the insurance industry.

 In 2007 when the economic situation became dire in Zimbabwe, I did not have to apply for SAQA evaluation as I already had a South African qualification and within a few weeks I obtained my quota work permit from South African embassy in Harare. In late 2009 when I decided a career change and enrolled for the Accounting degree, I would come home drained from work and I would remember the disappointment I felt after A ‘level and I would study late into the night. In 2014 I successfully completed my degree. Even though I could not secure a place to train as an article clerk, I had learnt about accounting which is very important in any business environment. I hope that I can still remember that defeat as I struggle to complete the LLB degree that I am currently enrolled for as well as the MBA degree that I am now finally going to enrol for again.

All experiences matter

In September 1996, I got my first formal job as a secondary school temporary teacher in the Ministry of Education of Zimbabwe. I got the job because I had passed Building Studies at O’Level and sciences at A’ Level. I had hated the subject Building Studies in the early years of secondary school and the irony was that it was the same subject that helped to take me and my siblings out of poverty when I started earning a decent salary. I went on to briefly train as a printing apprentice for 5 months. Working a 12 hour night shift in winter and having to touch near freezing water when cleaning the printing press. Standing in front of the machine monitoring the papers being printed, knowing that if you doze off and fall onto the machine that would be the end of your life. This is my reference of hard work and I have worked for 6 Insurance companies and whenever I hear people complaining about too much work, I always remember the real hard work that I experienced in the 5 months I worked as a printing apprentice at NCR Zimbabwe’s division  NCR Systemedia.
  

My first insurance job was at Eagle Insurance as a trainee underwriter and later claims clerk between December 1997 to May 1999. During that time, our parent company SA Eagle became part of Zurich Financial Services Group.  Companies were getting rid of typing pools and all underwriters would now get personal computers and type documents on their own. We would complain as to why we were required to go for keyboard skills course. Now almost 20 years later keyboard skills are so important for me in the call centre where earnings are performance based, I am so grateful that I got to do the training. At AIG Zimbabwe from around 2001 to 2002, I was a corporate claims examiner and my job involved writing reports for big claims and also claims in various classes of insurance such as fidelity guarantee, professional indemnity, Liability insurance, marine insurance etc. The reports would be sent to a senior claims manager somewhere in Europe. At first it was a daunting task and I would come to work over weekends to read the assessor's report before writing my brief report . By the time I became a manager in November 2002, I already knew how to write my reports thanks to my experience at AIG.

From November 2002 to December 2003, I worked as an Account Executive at Zimbabwe Insurance Brokers. This was my first management role, I was reporting directly to the General Manager Retail Broking. I  was managing the Personal Lines team, I learnt to manage people as well to interact with clients. By the time, I joined Zimnat Lion Insurance Company as an underwriting manager in January 2004, my experience as an Insurance Broker helped me a lot to deal with brokers as I could relate from my frustrations I had when I was dealing with insurance companies and having to serve clients at the same time. As an Insurance broker one of the best insurance managers that I dealt with was Mr. AZ Shoko then he was the marketing manager at Altfin Insurance Company. In my book he is the best insurance marketer I have ever worked with. Imagine my luck the following year when I joined Zimnat Lion, he also joined as the AGM and the head of our business unit and I was his number 2 and I learnt a lot from him.

People do give you a benefit of doubt

In late 1997 during my time as an apprentice, I responded to an advert in The Herald newspaper for trainee underwriters. I went very late to the employment agent after my shift had ended; he interviewed me on his way out. He slotted me for one of the last interviews with the Human Resources Manager at Eagle Insurance Company. For the week of the interview I was working night shift, during the day, I would go to the offices of the Insurance Institute of Zimbabwe to learn more about insurance. I passed the interview with the human resources and I was invited again to be interviewed by the operations managers. The two Operations managers who interviewed me were Ms Pat Saukila and Mr. Nedziwe. I started the job in December 1997.

Whilst I was ZIB, I would go with the Managing Director Mr. Nyakudya or the General Manager Mr. Mapani to visit VIP clients. During my time at ZIB I had the privilege of serving many prominent Zimbabweans. Some of my clients were the late Professor Walter Kamba, I also doing insurance for MPs one day my hero Job Wiwa Sikhala what a humble gentleman came to my office to collect his insurance cover note when he was still a member of parliament. I also served writer Ignatius Mabasa when he was moving from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and he joined The British Council as a Deputy Director. I met a number of CEOs and senior Managers for parastatals eg NSSA, IDC, ZESA, ZIMDEF (It was unbelievable how big the office of the head of Air Zimbabwe was), private sector including within SMM holdings which was the parent for our group at that time and it was a privilege to meet all these people.

At the end of 2003, I completed my Associateship exams. I was informed of a vacancy for an Underwriting manager at Zimnat Lion Insurance Company. Zimnat Lion then was the second biggest insurance company in Zimbabwe and was also listed on the stock exchange. I took a chance and applied for the position even though I doubted that I had the required experience. I had started my insurance career as a trainee underwriter at Eagle insurance company, I was moved to claims by Mr. Nedziwe after two young men where told to resign with immediate effect. In June 1999 I joined Diamond Insurance Company as a claims processor. In April 2000,I joined AIG Zimbabwe firstly as Farming claims examiner, then Motor Claims Examiner and finally as a Corporate Claims Examiner. In November 2002, I had joined ZIB as an Account Executive. At Zimnat Lion, I was interviewed by the Human Resources Director Mrs. Lynn Mukonoweshuro and the Late Willard Madanha the AGM who would be my direct boss. I got the job and started on the 1^st of January 2004.

Joining Zimnat Group had special personal significance for me. A few years before my father passed on, he signed up for a life insurance policy from a Zimnat life Assurance Company agent. My father nominated me and my mother as the co-beneficiaries of the policy. When he passed on at the end of 1990, after the estate duties, the balance was shared equally between my mother and me. As a minor my share of the inheritance from the life policy was administered by the Master of High court and every start of the school year, I would go with my mother to the offices of the Master of High Court in Harare with invoices for school fees and school uniforms. 14 years after my father’s death, I would join Zimnat group as a middle level manager.

When I was still working in Harare at Zimnat Lion, I am so grateful for the help I got from insurance brokers. Among the people who helped me so much is Mr. Ish Makuzwa when he was still the General Manager at Aon Zimbabwe. When our second son was born in December 2004, I named him Isheanesu. Also the rest of the team at Aon head office assisted me greatly including Munyaradzi Maunze, Shelton Madiyiko, Victor Shonhiwa, Shame Nyamagodo, Sheila Moyo and many more. At Marsh Zimbabwe it was Mr. Temba Chibare and his team. At Care Insurance Brokers it was Mr. Nousenga and his team. At Capitol Insurance it was Mr. Allen Chipangura and his team. At Pat Lister it was Russell Lister and his team. I was also helped by many more brokers and unfortunately I can’t mention them all. I also got incredible help from the reinsurers especially Mr. Tarupiwa Tarupiwa and his boss Mr. Mufaro Chauruka at Zimre Reinsurance Company.

 One day Mr. Winston Makamure who at the time was an agent for Zimbabwean international footballer Peter Ndlovu among other players, was referred to my office on the fourth floor. I did not know why he was referred to me as I was not dealing with direct clients, regardless I listened to him explaining the new cover that he was now required to take by FIFA, it was not a conventional insurance cover. I had an idea what we could for him and I picked up my phone and dialed Tarupiwa at Zimre Reinsurance and we agreed to a 50/50 coinsurance and the policy wording and we issued the cover to him. Around the same time, Russell Lister came with a proposal for tobacco hail insurance scheme, I organised a business lunch with Tarupiwa and Russell at Dolce Vita restaurant at Avondale Shopping centre and we talked a lot more on this cover. By the end of that year we agreed to the cover in time for the tobacco farming season.

In 2005, as the lead underwriter for Zimasco which at that time was one of the biggest Insurance accounts in Zimbabwe, I visited the imposing Zimasco Smelter Plant in Kwekwe as part of the survey team. This was surreal for me as 15 years earlier; I had started my high school at Manunure High School about 1km away from the smelters when the company was still then known as Union Carbide. That same year, Mr. Nousenga from Care Insurance Brokers invited me for a survey to Hwange Colliery Company; this was a good sign that he was considering our company to insure such a big client. I remember the surreal moments when I climbed on top of the massive drag line that we had learnt about in geography studies at O’Level. We also went to the underground mine, viewed the continuous miner machines, the huge conveyer belt and the massive cocking coal plant. I remember the laughter in the board room when the risk manager in me asked where they got the water as I had not seen any dam around. The following morning, we then visited the mighty Zambezi River and got a chance to see the massive water pump that pumped water to the town.

In April 2006, I was transferred to Bulawayo as the branch manager. I got a lot of assistance from Trust Insurance brokers from the Managing Director Nick Marsh and his management team from Dave Judge, Charles Mulele, Xolani Ndiweni and the rest of the team. At Aon Zimbabwe I was helped by Joseph Shumba, Chris Dzvene and the rest of the team. Many more insurance brokers in the Bulawayo market and the agents in Beitbridge, Gwanda, Plumtree, Hwange and Victoria falls helped me a lot. In all my roles, I had the support of my managers as well the team members who reported to me. Being a branch manager was daunting especially after the realization that now all decisions from claims, underwriting, credit control, marketing, personnel management, public relations e.tc. fell all on my shoulders. Even though I had the exco above me they were all 400km away at the head office and I was on my own with my team.


On the morning of 24 August 2007, the day after I arrived in Pretoria, I started looking for a job. I responded to an advert in Pretoria News about 4 days from month-end for a Business Claims Advisor at OUTsurance. The following afternoon, I was driving from an interview in Sandton and I got a phone call from Ms Anne-Mare Matthee from OUTsurance human resources department. I parked the car next to the Vodacom billboard just off the Buccleau Interchange on the N1 highway. She interviewed me telephonically for about 30 minutes and it was very uncomfortable in the car. At the end of the call, she told me that she was not impressed with my performance in the telephonic interview. Because she was impressed with my CV, she would still call me for a face to face interview with the Claims Managers at 2pm on Friday 31 August 2007.


I had another interview line up in Sandton on the same day and I decided to rather come to OUTsurance. I was interviewed by Glen Rae and Shaun Marshall that afternoon and the interview went very well for me. During the interview, Shaun Marshall told me that I had got the job and asked if I could start on Monday, I said yes and I waited for the offer letter to be prepared and I signed it. During that time, it was rare for a person to start straight in business claims, people would start in Personal Lines for sometime and then later move on to Business Claims. It was time to start an amazing new journey and join an environment with people of diverse backgrounds and where your earnings were based solely on your performance. On Monday 3 September 2007 when we reported for training, the very first person we saw was the Managing Director to welcome us and tell us about the company and all the senior managers came in one after the other and we had a chance to engage with them.

You actually work for yourself and not for the company

One of the most important transformational leaders in my career was Ms Tendai Chingovo who was my claims manager at AIG Zimbabwe. She taught me that as an individual you do not work for a company but for yourself. This is very important for an employee to realise that whenever you are working it is your personal brand that is on the line. For example you could see me working very hard even on my last day at an employer. Many employees have grievances whether real or imaginary with their current employers. It is a given that life is not fair, however what is important is to always see the bigger picture. If things do not work out at a particular employer, you continue giving your best and look for another opportunity. Do not slacken because you are not happy as you are doing yourself a disservice. Remember the saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks is true. If you become accustomed to slaking because of something that was done to you at a company, it becomes very difficult to shake off bad habits.

The sad thing is that employees who have these grievances start to change their behavior by taking false sick leave, slacking in their duties and in the process they start to have disciplinary sanctions loaded against them and the next moment they are fired. The first person to get affected by this negative change in behavior is the customer. Customers will start complaining to line managers, senior managers and even in the media. When you look at the complaints it is mainly for simple things like not responding to clients and doing basic tasks. What I have discovered especially with my experience in the claims environment, if you really want to have peace in your work life, you must service the client very well. For a start managers including senior managers are already busy with their tasks and they do not take kindly to getting unnecessary complaints from client about the same individual for simple tasks that are intentionally neglected. I have come to fear client’s more than I fear the MD. I remember when I worked as claims processor dealing with direct clients at Diamond Insurance Company between 1999 and 2000, I would choose to rather go to the offices of the most senior managers including the MD and negotiate to have the claims cheques signed immediately instead of having to face the direct clients and have to come up with some story.

We all go through challenges, why keep on digging when you are already in a hole. If you work for yourself would you take false sick leave? In American politics they talk of political capital for politicians I think this also applies to ordinary employees you must build-up a big goodwill reservoir, you must not cry wolf and always try to cultivate a good name for yourself. Sooner or later if you last long enough at the company you will have real personal issues and no one will believe that you are now facing a genuine problem. It is important to build to a state where people will give you a benefit of doubt. Do yourself a favour and always do the right thing even if it is not easy to do so.

I have worked for two employers where in my time, there has been voluntary retrenchment exercises initiated when the companies were downsizing. There is nothing as fulfilling as also applying for a voluntary packages and your bosses saying in no uncertain terms you are going nowhere. In my career I have seen once great professionals becoming a shell of their former selves. I believe your motivation must come from inside. Yes it is true that your environment is very important and we have to react to the environment as people with emotions. However you must always choose to be positive no matter how bad it is. It is better to keep on doing your work well and you ride the storm as manager come and go, if it becomes necessary look for another job. 

I have also learnt that no matter how liked or disliked you are by the boss, you need to carry your load. No one wants to have a “baby” reporting to them. Your bosses have their own work and don’t think for a minute that they will take kindly to doing the work for you that you are being paid for, you are better off doing your work quickly and asking to help your bosses in their work. About 5 years ago, I had grave concerns with the management style of my immediate boss and I almost resigned without a job until I raised the issue with the head of department and I was allowed to do a lateral transfer. Even during that challenging time my boss did not want me to leave the team as I was a top performer and the boss would lose money whenever I would leave.

Your development is up to you. Even at a lower level, where you do not have much authority you can learn a lot about the business. When you ask your boss for a decision, always give your opinion and if your boss recommends a different solution find out where you went wrong and learn from that.  When your boss has to write a report, volunteer to write a report for the boss. I have heard many people refusing to get more responsibilities because it is not in their job description then when are you going to learn? One day you might become a manager yourself and it will be too late to start learning those skills. Maybe you intend to go into business as an entrepreneur, the same skills such as being hard working, being able to measure your progress through writing reports and making sound decisions are very key, there is no better time than now to start learning those skills.

When it comes to doing your work well day in and day out at whatever level you are on. You must always do your tasks on time otherwise if you let the work pile-up sooner than later everything becomes urgent. Don't think the task will go away on its own. The other thing is that people get paralysed by the fear of having to make a decision and they keep the matter pending for a long time. In business, you are never going to get all the information, you work with what you have at times you make mistakes, you learn from them and hopefully make a better decision next time. Also generally people do not want to tell other people bad news, it is better to give the bad feedback whilst you still have control than to wait until the recipient of the news is already angry. If you are not sure about how to do the task, ask someone who knows how to do it and learn for the future. At times you get so much work, as they say you eat an elephant one bite at a time and if it becomes too much talk to your boss about the challenge and don't keep quiet. You must know how to prioritize so that you can keep in control. Preparations is very key, even in management meetings you could see who had not prepared properly.

If you do a good job someone will notice
Ms T Chingovo also taught me the importance of doing my job well as someone will notice. The person noticing might be another manager in another section, a client or even a competitor. This is how many people get head hunted. In an organisation it is not difficult to see who does their jobs well. In my career, I have had other managers in other organisations phoning asking me to recommend someone who had previously worked in my team. I have had no choice but to tell the truth about the work ethics of the individuals. I know whenever I was moving companies and changing positions some people had to give honest opinions about my conduct as well.

Proper communication is very essential
In the early 2000s in Zimbabwe inflation was in the double digits and at the same time the Zimbabwean dollar was devaluing almost every day. It meant most clients were under insured and we had to apply average even for motor vehicles, some cars even after claiming for a windscreen would have to be written off. As the team leader for Personal lines at ZIB in 2003, I had designed a template were my brokers after getting the assessment report, would quickly write to the client our settlement offer. One of the word I put on the template was “wreck” to refer to the damaged vehicle.

It so happened that one of the claims was for a car for the wife of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, Professor Levi Nyagura.  When my settlement letter landed on his desk, he took strong exception to the word wreck to describe his vehicle. We were all summoned to his office at the university. The people who went were the managing director, the general manager, the divisional manager who was dealing with the corporate account, the other account executive and me. He explained to me that this vehicle had been bought for him by the university when he was still the dean and his car was not a wreck, I did apologise. I actually felt like a failure, imagine I am the guy who could not make it to the university after high school but I still managed to get a stern rebuke from the vice chancellor. From that day onwards whenever I communicate to external clients ,I use simple words.

The other important issue is on e-mail. Many people takes more care when they write a normal letter to external clients but when it is an e-mail they are very careless. Around 2008-2009, I participated in the internal interview process for Young Aspiring Team Managers (obviously the young part does not apply to me!). After the interview process, the head of communications sent an e-mail with the names of people who had qualified. I wanted to forward the e-mail to Nesbert a Zimbabwean who had also been unsuccessful. In my haste, I just replied to the Head of communications instead of forwarding to Nesbert. Luckily I had not written anything nasty in the mail. Another incident was when I was communicating with the client informally via e-mail for days and when the decision did not go the way the client expected he then complained to my manager that my e-mail was not professional. From that day onward, whenever I communicate via e-mail with a client, I am always formal and professional even if it takes longer.

The same when it comes to the phone, at times clients and suppliers do drive you to the edge, it is always important to keep composed, calm and not to bang the desk even after you have cut the call. Sometimes you think you have ended the call and say something whilst the client is still on the other end and still listening and you can’t take back what you have said.

It is important to believe, take a chance and also challenge oneself

In September 1996 on my first day at school as a temporary teacher, I was on assembly duty. It was a scary experience having to address the school assembly, In my student days, I never became a prefect or a class monitor, I had no choice but to do this.  Some of the students were obviously older than me, scared as I was, I remembered the way my teachers used to address us during my student days and I addressed the assembly and it went well. When I was studying for my insurance studies, I knew it was important to choose the subjects that I found challenging. In 1999 I sat for the Introduction to Reinsurance subject and the following year I went to the Insurance Institute annual end of year dinner at Sheraton hotel to accept my book prize in Reinsurance. I then set for the introduction to Marine and Aviation insurance. At Associate level, I also sat for the Business Interruption subject as somehow even in the office very few people could explain to me what the cover was all about.

In 2005, I had applied at the state universities in Zimbabwe for a place to study for an MBA and they did not accept my Associateship diploma as a sufficient entry requirement into the MBA program. I kept on applying, towards the second half of 2005, I approached the Open Learning Centre in Harare, who at that time was providing tuition for a 3 year management program that would result in the award of the MBA degree from Nottingham Trent University. I was accepted into the program and started the lectures that were being held on alternating weekends. In the class we had senior managers from across Zimbabwe corporates as well as a few business owners. I only completed the first module and I dropped off in the middle of the second module after I could not raise the British Pounds that were now due. This program was very practical and I learnt a lot from the real life case studies. I really regretted not having completed this MBA program.

As a manager, whenever I presented my budgets I never seem to agree with the Finance Directors on my proposed figures and I realised that I needed to learn more about accounting and I am glad that I managed to complete the accounting degree. In 2007, I took a chance resigned from my job and came to South Africa. When I joined OUTsurance in 2007 at first it was a daunting task. At that time in my section there was only one black South African lady who resigned the same month that I finished my training. Most of the team members where Afrikaans speaking, there was one Indian gentleman and the team manager who was English. At times during the meetings and general discussions in the team, I would feel invisible when most conversations would easily drift into Afrikaans. I also had a challenge with clients both black and white client, I would pronounce client’s name in the English way and clients would be cross with me. The first month I finished training and went on the floor, I exceeded the target by about 10%. After the March 1998 elections in Zimbabwe, the situation back in Zimbabwe depressed me a lot and it affected my work. By June 2008, I saw that there was no hope of going back to Zimbabwe anytime soon and I concentrated on my work and ever since I have exceeded my target in over 95% of my ten years here.

It takes a whole village to raise a child

My development was a result of many people, from the government of Zimbabwe which never saw it fit to play politics with our education. Up to O’Level, I went to township schools which were heavily subsidized by the government. We had excellent teachers; I want to say special mention to my O’Level Mathematics teacher Mr Muzite. From grade 3 to 7 the school fees was $6 per annum ($2 per term) and the standards were very good. I only went to Marondera High School a former group A school for A’ levels as it was the only school at that time that offered A ‘Levels for boys in the whole town.


 In my first year of teaching a guy that I only remember as Brother Nation advised me that when I eventually get employed in the private sector, I should first get a good qualification in whatever industry I got a job in and later on I would be able to change to what I loved as long as I first get a good base. I did exactly that when I joined the insurance industry and I sacrificed so much as most of my earning in the first two years were going towards repaying my study loans; it was a challenge to raise the foreign currency for my studies in South Africa at that time the Zimbabwean dollar was devaluing very fast.

At Eagle Insurance I was helped by Alois Mautsi, Victor Chibwe, Hwanya Hwaire, Vusi Masuku, Constance Chidawanyika, Anthony Kambani and our manager Martin Chimonyo. At Diamond Insurance Company, I learnt the importance of having a good work ethic from Godfrey Matambo who was then the senior underwriter in our team. My manager was Ms Pepelapi Gumbo. At AIG, my first claims supervisor was Mr Herman Hendricks one of the most fair bosses I have ever have in my career, also my claim managers Ms Tendai Chingovo, Mr Taffy Mathews and the senior claims Manager Mr. Lawrence Mareya. At ZIB I got a lot of help from my boss the General Manager Retail Broking Mr. John Mapani it was not easy as this was my first time as a manager and he was very patient with me. I also learnt a lot from the Managing Director as he would accompany me when we visited the VIP clients. I also learnt a lot from my peers the other Account executives Austin Samakande, Agripah Marangwanda, Raymond Chidawanyika and the Late James Pswarayi. Also special thanks to my first secretary Mrs Loice Shangwa and my very able senior broker Mrs Netsai Nyaunde and it was easy for me to leave knowing that she would take over from me.

At Zimnat lion Harare, I was helped by my boss the Late Willard Madanha, my next boss AZ Shoko, later on Ms Pepelapi Gumbo again. I also was helped by Mrs Precious Chasara the AGM in charge of claims as well as Mrs Maureen Chigumadze the claims manager who was always willing to help. Also from my managing director Mr. Calson Chiswo who always liked to remind us that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I also dependent on other managers and staff including Ms Emilia Hatendi our Human Resources Manager, who never got tired of saying, “Kanyoka you must show emotional intelligence!. I also depended on my secretary Ms Sandra Chipunza, my Chief Underwriter Mrs Rumbidzai Chinwada, the credit control manager Mr Didymus Mangwarire, Mr Amos Dzimunwe the finance manager, Mr Sam Matsekete the Finance Director, my peer Mrs Tambu Madzivire and many more people.




 In my 21 years working life, the management team at Zimnat Lion was the most qualified that I have worked with, we had chartered accountants, a number of insurance associates and fellows, qualified human resources practitioners, engineers, qualified It personnel, lawyers, qualified Internal auditors. During monthly management meetings or quarterly strategy reviews, you needed to be well prepared and to be sure of your facts otherwise any member of the management team would take you to task.

Whilst at Zimnat Harare between 2004 and 2006, I was representing the company at the special risk consortium at the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe. The special risks consortium would insure risks that no one insurance company would accept on its own e.g. the professional indemnity of insurance brokers, Professional Indemnity for security companies, the passenger liability for fare paying passenger vehicles etc. Almost every Thursday morning I would go for the meeting where we would underwrite the risks and validate the claims. Other members of the council were Mr L Nazare then the Managing Director for Intermarket Reinsurance, Mr. Francis Zimunya the Managing Director of Global Insurance company, Mr Munyaradzi Daka the Marketing Manager of Altfin Insurance Company, Mr Donald Muthe the Managing Director of RM now Old Mutual Insurance and Ms S Dawood from the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe. I always looked forward to the discussions in that meeting.

At Zimnat Bulawayo, I was helped by the staff including Mrs Sinanzeni Zivengwa, Bongani Muhau, Vongai Machonisa, Langton Makombo, my secretary Alice and many more. In my 10 years at OUTsurance, I have had help from many of my immediate bosses from Glen Rae, Wayne Araujo, Trevern Naidoo, Maureen Siobo, Isabel Erasmus and many more. In 2011, I briefly worked as an Acting Motor Claims Team Manager and I was reporting to Cardo Martin and he assisted me greatly.

I do not take for granted the help I got from many people and I will be forever grateful for this.