My reflections after our recent trip to Zimbabwe

A new day in Zimbabwe, 26/05/2018 in Masvingo

I was supposed to go to Zimbabwe alone the previous Friday night. Over the years, I discovered that when it comes to Zimbabwe it is better to frequently go to there and find out the true state of affairs first hand than to rely on the media. I also have to go and monitor our piggery project or any farming project that we would be pursuing at that time. At least once every month I normally drive from Pretoria on Friday evening and leave my car on the SA side and then hitch hike to Chivhu arriving on Saturday morning and then get to Harare in the afternoon.  On Sunday morning, I would then hitch hike to Beitbridge and then drive back to Pretoria arriving on Sunday evening. Taking a bus is normally a cheap option but the journey can take up to 24 hours meaning that I would not be able to make the return journey during the weekend. Because of the high crime levels in SA, it is dangerous to hitch hike within South Africa.  The quickest way to travel is to fly the joburg-Harare route which averages about R5 000 for a return trip and this is not viable as it is better to drive to Beitbridge as this normally only cost me R1 500.00 and I am better off using the extra money in funding my projects back home.

I did manage to register to vote in October last year onto the new voters’ roll, however my wife maNyoni  had not gone to register to vote as we kept on postponing her trip to Zimbabwe. So on Friday morning I got confirmation from Election Resource Centre Zimbabwe that Zimbabwe Election Commission was also registering new voters over the last weekend during the just ended voter inspection period. So this time we had to drive all the way to Harare. After resting for about an hour in Musina, we arrived at the South African border just before 2 am and there were very few travellers around and we were done with all the formalities at the border in less than 30 minutes. We then drove into the Zimbabwean border. After stamping our passports we went to customs desk in order to pay for the Temporary Import Permit for our vehicle.

To be honest things are changing for the better at Beitbrdge border post. I have been crossing this border almost every month since 2006. There are very few touts within the border. This time around we were told we no longer needed to fill in the forms so we went straight to the counter and the officer started helping us. On the wall behind the official was a poster of the new president Mr Mnangagwa another reminder that our former strong man is no longer in charge. Because of the poor road condition in Zimbabwe, it is advisable to use either a bakkie or an SUV. The last time, we drove with the SUV in 2016 we had to pay over R1 100.00 as they used to charge more based on the engine capacity. I was pleasantly surprised when the officer told me that with the new changes all vehicles now pay the same fee and we were charged R640.00 or $50. Another change that I have noticed was that in the past it was never advisable to use toilets on the Zimbabwean border and over the last few years my opinion is that the toilets are now cleaner on the Zimbabwean side.

We were done with the border formalities in less than an hour and we drove out. One of my best feeling over the years  when driving or just walking into Zimbabwe is reading the sign, “Welcome to Zimbabwe”. Back home in Pretoria, whenever we leave our house walking to the shops or driving to the shops on a weekend we have to remind one another if we have our ID documents with us as any official from police, immigration officials, City Improvement District officials etc can stop you especially in the city centre search you and ask you for your papers. The road to Harare needs to be constructed from scratch, however this time around as compared to my last drive in February 2018, all the potholes were filled up except when you are approaching the town of Chivhu where I saw a double cab bakkie had rolled after hitting a bad patch on the road about 1km from the police station.

We arrived in Chivhu and Inevitably I started discussing politics with my father in law. Over the years we always had a healthy debate as I supported Morgan Tsvangirai. This time around I conceded that Chamisa is not ready to be president. We then proceeded to drive to Harare and we arrived at our house in Zmre Park around 4pm and we quickly collected the proof of residence and then drove to Zimre Park primary school.  Whilst I went to inspect my name on the voter’s roll, maNyoni then joined the short voter registration queue. By 5pm we were back at our house. The lady staying at our house mentioned in passing that they have been going to many Zanu-pf local meetings yet MDC has not yet organised even one meeting in the area. My impression is that MDC is assuming that they have already bagged the urban vote so they don’t need to campaign there which I think is a big mistake.

I give lifts to hitch hikers in Zimbabwe as it is very safe to do so and also when I hitch hike in Zimbabwe, I also get help from motorists. I like speaking to strangers and I always ask them if they see any changes since the new government took over. I don’t stay in Zimbabwe and I have seen positive changes such as at the border and the business confidence has improved. Last year when I resigned from my job to concentrate on my business, I did spend most of October 2017 in Zimbabwe and I could see there was no future in Zimbabwe. I then came back and told my wife that I would not invest further in Zimbabwe and I concentrated on South Africa. Ever since the coup in November 2017, things started improving again. One notable change is the police harassment and corruption, on this trip we were only stopped at two check points for the whole 600km journey from the border to our house. I previously wrote in my blog about my trip in March 2016, when I was stopped and harassed at 16 checkpoints from Beitbridge to Mutoko. This time around the two officers whom met me only asked me to show my licence and my TIP and they treated me with utmost respect and we even joked and they wished us a safe travel.



The biggest mistake that the government has done is to stick with bond notes.  Last year in December I did write an opinion piece on why Zimbabwe needs to abandon the bond note and I still stand by those views (http://kanyokad.blogspot.com/2017/12/why-zimbabwe-needs-to-discard-bond-note.html) Due to the bond note, the rate for the Rand is R10 as to $1. All of a sudden due to this,fuel is actually now cheaper to buy in Zimbabwe than in South Africa! Cash shortage is still bad, on Sunday morning at OK Masvingo a lady begged to swipe my groceries and I gave her cash.

2018 was supposed to be the year that MDC takes over from Zanu, instead it has been one disaster after the other. It started with the death of my hero the leader of my party Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and the next day whilst his body was still in the morgue, there was a meeting at MDC headquarters Harvest House in Harare to anoint Chamisa as the new leader. It did not make sense to me why the hurry. Personally I have made up my mind that I will not vote for Chamisa, however I will still vote for an MDC MP candidate or a credible independent candidate. Like I did in 2013, I will also not vote for an MDC candidate for councillor. Ever since 2002 when we first voted for MDC councillors, we have stayed in Chitungwiza, Harare and Bulawayo. The municipal services have deteriorated in most towns except in Bulawayo. In my view it is only MDC councillors in Bulawayo who deserves to be returned to office. I am very nervous of voting for Mnangagwa as I know his history but at least he seems to be taking the country on a different route from Mugabe. Any way I could just vote for him just to thank them for making sure that Grace Mugabe would never become my president.

We have almost 9 weeks before the next election so a lot can change.