Is today’s criminal resourcefulness tomorrow’s nation-building?

The things people to do to circumvent the banking system just amazes me. I am but a simple, mathematically-deficient individual who is endlessly impressed by Zimbabwean resourcefulness when it comes to manipulating the currency market.

Let us not point fingers at the illegality of their endeavours, after all it is state-inspired criminal activity!

Last week, Gono, chief crook and master of fraud, announced the scrapping of the RTGS system. He was obviously peeved at all the delicious foreign exchange eluding him as the dealers were funneling it all through RTGS.

Now Gono and his band of thugs are back in business.

He has teams of henchmen deployed throughout the country once again, armed with trunkloads of Zimbabwe dollars. Please remember that us lowly individuals are limited to withdrawing a meager $20 000 a day – at today’s prices, only enough to buy two loaves of bread! Gono knows no such restrictions: he can just carry on printing and topping up his “street buyers” ad infinitum.

“Need some more, boys? Hang on, I’ll print it for you by evening!”

The RBZ “buyers” have a well developed network of lower-echelon thugs snapping up any cash on the street equipped with rare wads of Z$.

Gono’s teams are put up, all expenses paid, at local 4 star hotels, receiving, at last count, Z$1 million per day pay.

All they have to do is park at the pool, sip ice-cold beers, and wait for their underlings to rock up with the forex. They are set daily targets and have no problem fulfilling these. In fact, over and above their per diem, they are also managing their own top-up fees by inflating the rate they are using, pocketing the difference. After all this is a ‘no receipt’ business.

The result? The street rate has rocketed. Last week it stood at Z$40 000 to the rand, and today it hit $100 000!

The erstwhile RTGS dealers are now doubly stricken: their system has collapsed because of Gono, but also, a reliable source has told me, banks have been told to compile lists of people with more than $300 million in them. Should those individuals not be able to produce receipts or invoices, they will forfeit these monies…. to the RBZ!

Gono wins double.

Now let me give you another great example of the Zimbabwean entrepenneur in action…

A ticket to from Harare to Bulawayo last week cost Z$50 million if paid in local currency, or R2 250 (probably one of the most expensive flights in the world). My friend has friends in high places, so she gets her connection to help her issue a bank guaranteed check for the local amount, hands over R1 000 and voila, she has paid less than half of the forex price.

I truly hope that if and when the revolution comes, these resourceful business people will be able to translate their criminal activities into nation-building businesses.

Hmmm, is that wishful thinking?

This entry was posted by Still Here on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 7:54 pm. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.