Even the goats are beginning to die
October 7th, 2005
Our newsletter, mailed to our subscribers today, describes a conversation with an elderly woman who we respectfully refer to as ‘Gogo’ (grandmother). Gogo shares with us her experience of travelling between Bulawayo and her rural home in Siabuwa (in the Zambezi Valley). With no fuel or forex in the country, public transport has ground to a halt and Gogo’s journey is fraught with difficulties, as the following extract reveals:
Normally Gogo would have a choice of travelling either via (the Falls Road) Kamativi and Binga, or via Nkayi and Gokwe. The western or the eastern route as you could say, both of which take one over some difficult terrain and bone-shaking roads at the best of times. However in these grossly abnormal times one does not have these options any more. Because of the acute shortage of fuel across the whole country most rural buses have just stopped running. People may queue for days only to be told that the service has been cancelled. No forex, no fuel, no bus service – leaving thousands of stranded travellers in abject misery. And that was just the start of Gogo’s woes …
I enquired further what she was going to do. Could she not get a lift on some vehicle going to Binga? Possibly, replied Gogo (and at considerable cost) but the real problem with that route was how to get from Binga on the shores of Lake Kariba to Siabuwa, a hundred kilometres inland. No buses have run on this road for many weeks now, leaving desperate commuters to make the journey on foot. How long would such a journey take? Two to three days was the reply, depending on one’s state of health. Gogo went on to explain that rural people forced to walk this road had to be continually on the lookout for wild animals. (The road passes through forested areas and skirts wildlife safari areas and the Chizarira National Park). For this reason people tend to walk in groups, and they stop walking at 5 in the evening when the elephants are on the move, to or from the water. Walkers set up big bonfires at night to scare off the elephants and other wildlife.
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