WHY I NO LONGER HAVE SYMPATHY FOR ZIMBABWEANS

These photos were taken in 2013 outside Avondale Primary school voting station and at Kumbudzi looking for transport back to South Africa. That was the worst election I attended in terms of voter apathy. Vendors and minibus taxi drivers (maHwindi) were going on with their business in Harare and were not bothered with voting. Last night I saw videos of thousands of Zimbabweans running from Harare CBD to avoid the unjust 6pm to 6am curfew yet minibus taxis are banned and ZUPCO doesn’t have enough buses to ferry all passengers.

As Zimbabweans we are docile and that includes cowards like me who ran away from home. When I saw those videos last night I didn’t feel any sympathy, I am sorry, kusiri kufa ndekupi. Instead of a hungry person walking 30kilometers home isn’t it better to peacefully demonstrate to free ourselves. The regime is able to do divide and rule us because we are paralyzed with fear.

This reminds me of an incident in 2005 after work in Harare on my way home to Marlborough I passed by Borne Marche’ supermarket along The Chase in Mount Pleasant. That time we had shortage of bread in the country, the instore bakery happened to be be baking bread at that moment and I joined the queue, behind me came my senior our Human Resources Director. People in front of us in true Zimbabwean style were saying, “zvichanaka chete” (things will be alright one day). I chatted with my boss how hopeless we were as Zimbabweans.

I just imagine if it was in South Africa were minibus taxis were banned and citizens were subjected to such inhuman conditions, no gun or threat of jail would save the government. What is it with us Zimbabweans that cause us to be this docile as if we were chicken. Tiri huku. There is a saying, “mwari anobatsira anozvibatsira”. Let’s unite whether you are in or out of the country to free ourselves🙏🏿

Why I am very grateful

Last night before I went to bed I was reading an article from Susie Moore my favourite life coach, she recommends one must practice gratitude everyday. From form 3 up to form 6, I visited this municipality owned library six days a week. When in 1991 my mother bought a new house in the new township of Rujeko (Yellow City) next to Dombotombo Township, a 2bedroom house after my father died, the house did not have electricity for the first two years so going to library after school until it closed at 7pm was a good idea.

Most times she would rent out the other half of the house leaving two rooms for the 6 of us and cousins who came from the village looking for work as domestic workers in Marondera, it made sense to go to the library everyday it was open from Monday to Saturday. The librarians were very strict but they allowed us to bring our textbooks in. We would occupy the second room that didn’t have many books. During school holidays, we met students from some of the top schools such as Kutama college, Goromonzi High School, Marist Brothers Nyanga Boys High school etc and I realised they were not more bright than those of us going to township schools.

The last time I went to that library was in September 1998, I had joined the insurance industry in December 1997 and I was writing my second insurance exams. I took study leave and went to my mother’s home in Marondera. I would go to the library to study. I had already passed the first local insurance exams in March 1998 and now I had enrolled for two subjects with Insurance Institute of South Africa. It was very expensive raising the forex but I was determined to get the qualifications. That decision paid off, in 2002 I became a manager and in 2007 when the economic environment deteriorated in Zimbabwe, I and hundreds of my peers applied for work permits at the South African embassy in Harare and came to South Africa and joined the insurance industry and it was very easy to fit in.

I remember in September 1998 Zimbabwe was fighting in the DRC civil war, I could have become a soldier. From 1996, I had been a temporary teacher. Beginning of 1997 I was teaching at Kambarami Secondary School close to Murehwa Growth Point, my aunt Mrs Maposa asked me to come Sunningdale during the April school holidays so that I could help teach mathematics to my cousins. One day we visited my uncle Mr Farai Tsiga at his flat in Avondale very close to King George road, a walking day from Avondale Shopping Centre. Years later I would stay in Avondale for 4 years.

My uncle a war veteran was a Captain in the Zimbabwe National Army and he suggested that it would be a good idea for me to join the army and he would inform me when the officers’ recruitment commenced. I had no intention of joining the army, in my culture my uncle is considered my father and one doesn’t argue with his father. A contrast, in 1996 when the Airforce of Zimbabwe advertised for Cadet Pilots, becoming a pilot was enticing. I did apply and went for the interview at Manyame Airbase next to Harare International Airport and did the written tests in various subjects including general knowledge. I came unstuck in the Physics paper as I had studied Biology instead of Physics and I did not return the next day. Luckily we didn’t have cellphones then, my uncle phoned my school about twice around May/June 1997 and I never bothered to return his calls.

In July 1997, I left my teaching post as I desperately needed to be in Harare. At that time I was studying with Chartered Institute of Management Accountant and I would visit CIMA library in Harare at Michael House along Baker Avenue which was now renamed Nelson Mandela Avenue every weekend to compare notes with fellow CIMA students. After teaching for almost a year, I knew teaching was not for me. If I had finished school a year or two earlier, I could have qualified for the Cuba teacher training program I am sure I would have taken the offer as going to Cuba was enticing. In all my working life, I have never seen professional who are as demolarised as teachers. I joined NCR Zimbabwe as an apprentice in their printing division in the Southerton Harare, I took a 65% percent salary when I left teaching to go to Harare. I was staying with Maposa family in Sunningdale and I walked to and Southerton Industrialist site via Mbare Township and back home.

Eventually I got a big break in December 1997 when I was employed by Eagle Insurance as a Trainee Underwriter. A few days before Christmas my uncle Mr Tsiga was involved in a vehicle accident next to Mazoe Dam and died on the spot. I took unpaid leave to attend his funeral which was held at his parent’s home in Mufakose very close to Machembere bar. Sekuru Gibson my eldest cousin from my mother’s side also a war veterans and a former soldier then an aide to Vice President Simon Muzenda had also bought a house in the new government housing development next to Machembere bar. We boarded the bus to our village in Jekwa, Murehwa. My mum was already at the village. My uncle was buried at the top of the hill where all his clan is buried.

In February 2002, I would visit a funeral parlor very close to Dombotombo Library to choose a casket for my mother. Once I had selected the casket, MaNyoni’s uncle Mr Vhori brought a similar casket all the way from Harare. My mother always told me that hardwork and education would get me places and I had no choice but to believe her as she repeated this to us daily. I am so grateful for the journey I have travelled so far. I know of many of my peers some of them brighter than me but never made it 🙏🏿

WHY I FIND THE VIOLENT TRUCK STRIKE IN SOUTH AFRICA AGAINST FOREIGN DRIVERS TO BE ABSURD

I know one or two things about the trucking industry given my over 22 years experience in the insurance sector in both South Africa and Zimbabwe. 17 years ago when I completed my Associateship I majored in Motor Insurance, Business Interruption, Marine Insurance and Reinsurance. Zimbabwe used to be the transport hub of Southern Africa linking many SADC countries. As a result of the economic crisis and bad forex policies Zimbabwe slowly started losing its strategic position.

We started noticing trucking companies as well as bus companies relocating to Botswana and South Africa due to their stable business policies. For my first 10 years in South Africa from 2007 to 2017 I did mainly commercial insurance claims and I found out that many Zimbabweans own small South African registered businesses operating a few trucks. Some Zimbabweans based overseas bought trucks and set-up trucking businesses in South Africa. They transport goods mainly between South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia & DRC. There are press reports that Barloworld Logistics which owns companies such as Avis Car hire and Manline Freight is restructuring, which means leaner small companies will buy their current fleet and fill the gap.

Being a cross border truck driver is not a 9am to 5pm job, it is mostly a 24 hours, 7 days a week job, it is a tough job, you can spend up to 4 days trying to cross a border. Truck drivers confess that driving into countries such as DRC is very challenging. Given the level of de-industrialization in many SADC countries, citizens in those countries rely on those trucks to ferry goods from South Africa. This benefits South Africa in that its companies get a market for their products thereby boosting manufacturing capacity and employment and South African banks gets huge inflows of foreign currency making sure South Africa realises a positive balance of payment support that helps to stabilize the Rand. South African financial sector including insurance companies and banks benefit immensely from this. Current figures shows that around 1 000 trucks cross Beitbridge everyday during this lockdown period. On the return journey to South Africa trucks can carry unprocessed tobacco and minerals such as copper, platinum ore and chrome to Durban harbour. SA risks losing out to Port of Beira, Walvis Bay, Dar El Salaam, Luanda etc more so that the massive Kazungula bridge at the border of Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe over Zambezi river is nearing completion cutting the distance to Walvis Bay and Luanda.

Some years ago there was a crippling strike at the Durban harbour that lasted many weeks and the then Botswana President complained bitterly about this. I find it not surprising that the only road that was resurfaced by Group Five in Zimbabwe is the one from Plumtree to Mutare towards Port of Beira via Harare and Bulawayo. I suspect Botswana helped to finance that project. The distance from Port of Beira to Zimbabwe is less than 300kms. That route won’t be affected by the instability in Mozambique, I remember in the 80s during Mozambique civil war, Zimbabwean soldiers successfully secured the Beira Corridor route. If the violence continues unabated South Africa will lose big time as Botswana will mostly avoid South Africa. Trucks are movable property, they can move borders overnight and be registered in neighbouring countries. Eswatini may start utilizing Port of Maputo.

Given that most of the minerals coming from DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe going via port of Durban are going to China. If Mozambique negotiates with China to upgrade Port of Beira, I see countries such as DRC, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe shifting their exports and imports to the nearby Port of Beira. As we speak right now Zambia and Zimbabwe source their petroleum products almost exclusively from Beira via Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe the government has made it mandatory for platinum companies to start processing platinum ore which means there won’t be any need to transport the mineral via South Africa which already has a huge theft risk as compared to other SADC countries.

South Africa must wake-up and realise that rule of law means also maintaining law and order, there is no point in the trucking industry getting a high court order to interdict the illegal strike but then the police is powerless to stop the illegal strike and fail to protect property from vandalism. No country is an island, the violent strike will erode South Africa’s competitive advantage. It is absurd that thugs want to stop thousands of foreign workers with the requisite permits from working in South Africa.

WHAT I LEARNT FROM MY FATHER

My father had been ill for over a year, the day he died, it was early November 1990. I dreamt about his death the previous night. When I woke up, I told my mother about my dream and she just told me to go to school. I arrived home around 5pm from school and I learnt an ambulance had just taken him to Marondera Provincial Hospital where he died early that evening. He was 36 and I was 14. My father had suffered for over a year.

That evening, his colleagues in the police force wanted to inform my grandmother about his death. My mother was in no condition to travel  to our village in Murehwa. I volunteered to show police the way to our village and we went via Macheke and Nhowe Mission. We arrived around midnight. The police officers informed my grandmother about the death and she started crying. My grandfather whom I am named after had married a second wife and moved to Chikore with his new wife a few years after I was born. I only saw my grandfather a few times. My grandmother wanted to inform her older brother Mr Johane Mukoko so we drove to village 36 to inform him.

In 1990 death was not very common like now. Then the Zimbabwean government was not broke. I remember my father’s casket in the brand new police Landrover Defender pick-up. There were many lorries that fetched mourners from Marondera to Murehwa. At the graveside police did the mandatory gun salute and a lot of villagers were really scared. We viewed the casket for the last time and my father appeared as if he was sleeping. His death hit my mother and my grandmother really hard. My maternal grandmother had died a few weeks before and my mother didn’t go to the funeral as my father was seriously ill.

As the first born, my father’s death made me grow up quickly. My father was a man of few words. He was a very patient man, he rarely disciplined me as that was left to my mother. Like all policemen he dealt with facts, he wanted direct to the point answers. When he asked you to do something you listened carefully as he didn’t like repeating himself. He taught me to iron clothes as he always ironed his own clothes. He liked reading everyday from Herald or Chronicle Newspapers and Newsweek and Time magazines. After he was done reading I would read. Even in primary school I knew about Cold War and Nuclear Weapons. He was a lousy cook, when mum was away he cooked sadza(pap) with lumps, I would struggle to eat the sadza as lumps made me want to vomit.

Like many men in my extended family who fought during the liberation war, he  suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. After the war ended, he related very well with his uncle, cousins, nephews and nieces who had fought on the side of Zanu-PF. Most of 1990 he was on sick leave and so I spent a lot of time with him. In 1990 there was not much information or therapy for HIV or AIDS. At times he could not see, so I would accompany him to the loo. At Dombotombo Police Station we used a communal toilet and it was a tricky situation.

When he felt a bit better, I would talk to him. Everyone I met from his cousins and school mates told me how intelligent he was. After finishing the grades available at the nearby Jekwa School in the late 60s he had to cycle to Dombwe school about 14kms in order to continue with his education. He passed his Standard 6 education. Then there was no nearby secondary schools in the villages. To go for high school he had to go to boarding schools such as Murewa Mission.

As recounted by my father my grandfather wanted to sell cows so that he could continue with his education and the younger wife refused. My father told me never to have more than one wife as that would bring misery to yourself, your spouse and your children. My father had to look for work armed with a standard 6 education. Then in Rhodesia there was very few options for Africans, he started as a game ranger in the Kariba area and later joined the hated Rhodesia Police. He fought the war on the wrong side. As an African, he had a glass ceiling. After independence he continued in the police but it was obvious that there was bias towards war veterans. My father aced the police examinations but he was never promoted for among other things indiscipline.

Another important lesson from my father, the lesson came too late in his life. He told me that your spouse must be your best friend and not your siblings or your own friends. He had seen that when he became seriously sick all his friends who influenced him to do the wrong thing where nowhere to be seen, the only person who stuck with him was my mother. When his will was read, it was clear he had seen the light. He also told me a hilarious story to show why you must always listen to opinions of other people. He said there was a woman who never wanted to hear the opinion of her husband and one day she didn’t dress properly and her undergarments were exposed. The husband was really scared to say anything, when she went outside neighbours told her.

The reason why I don’t smoke nor drink that much alcohol is what I witnessed from my father in the 80s. I didn’t like it when he was drunk nor smoke. About two years before his death, my father took out a life insurance policy with Zimnat Life Insurance and nominated myself and my mother as co-beneficiaries. That money paid for my education and it only ran out in my final A’Level year and my school fees and examination fees were paid by the department of social welfare. In January 2004,  I would join Zimnat Group as a middle level manager.

A VIEW FROM A FOREIGNER, SOUTH AFRICA HAS SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES

I know my South African friends will not like to hear this, but I will say it anyway🤣 SA has many opportunities for small businesses. It explains why many foreigners will quickly start a business on arriving in South Africa.
 

By the time I left Zimbabwe in August 2007, I had been a middle level manager. Even on that level my monthly salary hovered around R1 000, it was not enough to buy a bed cash in Zimbabwe. Like many Zimbabweans, I now made more in my hustles and only stayed in the job for benefits I had such as 300 litres monthly petrol, use of a reliable company vehicle a Toyota double cab and the 3 bedroom company house in Burnside, Bulawayo. By that time sales from my shops were over R20 000 per week. I eventually resigned after I bought myself an Isuzu bakkie and decided to concentrate on my hustles, Mugabe introduced the mid 2007 price control blitz😡
 

Salaries in South Africa are generally higher than in Zimbabwe yet goods and services are much cheaper with the exception of rentals which are more expensive in South Africa. Those expensive rentals is a business opportunity. My first business within 4 months of arriving in South Africa was rentals. My brother in law and his friend also from Zimbabwe had rented for years a 2 bedroom flat in Sunnyside when they were both PHD students at University of Pretoria, in December 2007, they were moving out and I took over the flat whose rent was R2 400. I rented out the dining room to three Zimbabwean ladies for around R2 400, the other bedroom to a couple for R2 000. The friend was not happy with me making money and cancelled the lease with the agent and I moved out on the fifth month.

Currently around Pretoria Central, Sunnyside, Arcadia etc there are people whose own source of income is having about 5 flats in their name and they rent out spaces to tertiary institutions students making a decent profit from each flat. I know of friends who save or take out loans and build rooms for rental in townships. In many surbubs you can advertise to share your home, it is a good idea when you have lost your job and you are struggling to pay your bond. There is no need to be embarrassed we all go through hardships at some point in life. You do what you have to do to get through the tough spell. The financial system in South Africa is more accessible to individuals and the interests rates are more affordable. I was able to buy my first car within 3 months of arriving in South Africa and paid very affordable installments. In Zimbabwe I wouldn’t be able to do so. I got my first credit card on the 4th months and with the money I was able to reopen my shop in Janhi, Mutoko in January 2008. Due to the inflationary environment of 2008 and massive devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar I was losing so much money and I closed the shop.

In Zimbabwe for you to get a homeloan, you needed the support of your employer to guarantee the loan otherwise you would not qualify nor afford the installments. Many foreigners will start looking to buy a home as soon as they arrive in South Africa even though it not very easy for foreigners to do so but the terms are much better than back home. Whilst I saw my South African friends buying the expensive VW Golf GTI or VW Polo GTI, I saw foreigners financing Uber vehicles. In 2017 I met a Zimbabwean who had four Uber black vehicles. For a price of one Golf GTI you can buy up to three International haulage trucks in a fair condition. Even buying a bakkie or a double cab makes sense, you can carry furniture for your neighbours and get extra income. During your off days, you can drive to Mpumalanga buy green mealies or oranges and sell from the side of the road and earn extra income. You can even employ someone else.
 

The adherence to rule of law in South Africa is good for business. I ran general dealer shops in Zimbabwe from 2001 up to 2008, things would be change overnight. During elections government would impose unreasonable price controls and confiscate your goods. In South Africa you can open your tuckshop or takeaway at home and the government will not arbitrarily demolish your business without a court order. In Zimbabwe things are different, I remember Robert Mugabe whilst opening the new highway to the airport in Harare once asked why there were houses on the way to the airport. Those houses had been there for years. The next few days the entire neighborhood was demolished😢
 

Many of my black South African friends envy Zimbabwe’s land reform but the reality is that the economic and legal environment makes it very risky to even farm in Zimbabwe. I can get as much land I need from relatives and friends. Some people have over 30 hectares of land that is lying unutilised. You can grow your maize and you will be compelled by law to sale to the state and be paid the useless Zimbabwean dollar. You can bring in your forex and grow as much tobacco as you want, when the tobacco is sold the government will pocket the US$ and you are paid in Zimbabwean dollar bank transfer and not cash. The current black market rate is about 4 times the official rate, so by farming tobacco you are losing money at the expense of the government which pockets your forex.
 

In Zimbabwe for you to get cash you pay a premium of up to 60%😢 Many people leave farms in Zimbabwe and decide to come and work in South Africa because the government policies in Zimbabwe can easily bankrupt a farmer. If South Africa is able to do a responsible and sensible land reform this will make South Africa more attractive for small businesses.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP- WORKING ON YOUR BUSINESS IDEA

 

In 2011, we had finished building a 2 bedroom house self-funded at our stand in Zimre Park just outside Harare. The tenant moved in on 1 January 2011. That year I also opened a tuck shop at home as I have extensive experience in running general dealer shops. Zimbabwe was still using US$. I had an idea to raise broiler chicken at home. I grew up raising chicken. I planned for the project at home in Pretoria and presented my costing to my wife, she also has an accounting degree. So I have to convince myself first and then also get her input. I wanted the chicken to be ready by Christmas. I took a bus to Harare towards end of October, I visited hardwire shops and bought 600 chicks, feeding and drinking trays to be delivered around 8 November. I bought wooden planks and a few metal roof sheets and constructed a small fowl run. My plan was to extend the fowl run as the chicken grew and this is exactly what we did. Months later someone rented that fowl run. 

I had won my first overseas incentive top performers award at work, MaNyoni and I were going to fly to Phuket, Thailand on 31 October 2011 and come back around 8 November 2011. Mereka Maruwira was going to collect the chicks and raise them. I would come to Harare every two weeks to monitor, expand the fowl run and buy feed. December 2011 was hectic as I went to Zimbabwe every weekend.The easiest way to travel was flying but then getting a flight on Friday around 7pm and coming back on Sunday evening to South Africa is normally the most expensive time to fly and will cost around R5 000.00, it was better to use the the road and invest the savings in my project. Driving 2100 kms over the weekend was also tiring and expensive. Taking the bus was out of question because I only had the weekend and buses leave Pretoria when I am still at work. I would go to Johannesburg after work on Fridays, board a minibus to Beitbridge border post around midnight for around R250.00. The whole return trip only cost me R1 000.00.

I would cross both borders on foot, get lifts to Harare either from buses that would have finished border clearance formalities or from people who would have come to buy Japanese used cars in Musina. I would get to Harare on Saturday morning, buy stock for my tuck shop, chicken feed and solve the problem at the chicken project. On Sunday morning I would leave home around 6am to get lifts to Beitbridge and would arrive in Pretoria before 8pm. During Christmas holidays I hiked to Harare arrived early on 25 December and went straight to Mbare chicken market and negotiated a good price with the guys, they hired a truck and they bought half of the stock in cash. The following week on New Year, I eventually drove to Harare and negotiated to sell the remaining chicken. I lost money because my guys didn’t properly dress the chicken 😢

Starting a hustle or a project is time consuming and it needs dedication. It is not impossible. Over the years I have learnt that people only cares for your project the same way you care for it. It’s not just about sending money but you need to invest your time in the project as well. Plan your project don’t hesitate, implement it and start solving problems as you go ahead. There is no point in over planning. In this case I knew the first 3 weeks I didn’t need a lot of feed. When I got paid the next month I bought more feed and expanded the fowl run.

IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID- THE TRAGEDY OF INVESTING IN ZIMBABWE

 

This term was coined during the 1992 successful presidential run by Bill Clinton. I remember flying home to Harare on Saturday 18 November 2017 to participate in the demonstration to demand Robert Mugabe resignation. My expectation from the then incoming president Mnangagwa was not that democracy would improve in Zimbabwe, I thought at least he would manage the economy better. Throughout Africa we have less democratic countries such as Uganda, Botswana, Egypt, Rwanda etc but whose leaders know how to manage economies.

I have tried doing various projects in Zimbabwe since I left the country almost 13 years ago, the economic environment has become worse. Early this year, I took the painful but rational decision to stop our only project left in Zimbabwe being our piggery project. The issues are state corruption, the absence of rule of law, the poor management of the economy etc. In Zimbabwe authorities do not excessive just administrative actions. You can wake up one morning, the state will have imposed far reaching measures that might mean the closure of your business.

For the last five years we bought maize from local farmers and from nowhere the government gazetted a law to make it illegal to buy or sell maize. A farmer next door could get arrested for selling maize to you😢 For years I would bring maize from Mutoko to Chivhu about 300kms away without a problem but the new laws made doing that a criminal action and police would impound your  vehicle and permanently forfeit it to the state.

After the disputed 30 July 2018 election, a then respected finance minister was appointed and I welcomed this move. From the minister’s statement before he was appointed, he had proposed using the South African Rand and that made economic sense. Around November 2018, he announced his budget and announced that he would stick with the Zimbabwean dollar. At that time I already had tobacco seedlings ready to be planted and my target was 10 hectares of tobacco. I was planning to go home permanently and managed the farming on my own. Although I had already incurred costs, it was prudent not to send more forex to Zimbabwe and I donated the seedlings to local farmers.

We still stuck with our piggery project but we decided not to expand it horizontally and vertically as per our plans. The decision to bring back the Zimbabwe dollars made inputs in Zimbabwe very expensive and we started buying from South Africa. The problem was when selling the pork, we always lost money because of the premium on physical cash as compared to EFT.

The power shortages of 2019 when Lake Kariba water level were very low made it worse, abattoirs couldn’t buy more pigs as the butcheries were not stocking huge quantities. What really sunk us was the shortage of maize and a tonne of maize was costing US$300 as compared to $130 in South Africa plus transport. The logistics of buying maize and pig concentrate were a nightmare as you require an import permit.

If we had a stable and properly managed Zimbabwe, I would be better off in Zimbabwe than in South Africa farming as there is a huge gap in Zimbabwe. There is so much land that lies idle and a lot of dams that are not being utilized. The reality now is that you will need your head examined to send your hard earned forex to Zimbabwe as things stand. I discuss with many Zimbabweans based overseas and they would rather buy properties in South Africa than build a house or start a project in Zimbabwe