Happy in Zim, even though…

I received the following email from a friend and thought it would follow on nicely from yesterday’s posting. It is written in typical Zim style – I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry! This is no joke though, it’s all true. This is what Robert Mugabe has done to our beautiful country, where once upon a time, not so long ago, we used to export excess maize and the Zim dollar was equal in value to the British Pound.

HAPPY IN ZIM, even though…

1. A Vienna sausage costs more that a three bedroom house cost 25 years ago
2. Fuel has increased by 59,000% in the last 18 months
3. If you want fuel you have to buy foreign currency on the black market (illegal) drive 120 kms, smuggle your cash through an international border, and fill a container. On return you have to pay duty in Zim $ on the fuel you have purchased but you are not allowed to take out sufficient Zim $ to pay the duty anyway
4. In August (if you are lucky) you are advised of the new minimum wages for July .
5. Kariba Bream now costs $1,200,000 per kg which is double the price of imported Hake
6. Fees in Government schools are increased by 1,000% retrospective for 6 months, whilst private schools are restricted from increasing their fees at all
7. Colgate toothpaste in supermarkets is kept locked in a glass display cabinet otherwise it will be stolen
8. Reserve Bank officials enforce laws on illegal currency deals, yet the Bank uses illegally obtained currency to pay satellite television subscriptions
9. New Zealand butter is half the price of Zimbabwe butter
10. Water rationing is introduced four months after the end of the rains when the dams are already almost empty
11. A $10 note is still in circulation and is worth 0,05 of one US cent
12. A $10 note costs over $3,000 to print
13. Toilet paper costs mor
    e than $10 a sheet – so it’s cheaper to use the notes
14. Banks charge 300% interest on overdraft but pay 0,001% interest on current account balances
15. It is cheaper to hand deliver mail than to use the postal system
16. Government knocks down houses when there is a housing shortage
17. It can take up to a year to renew a firearms licence which is only valid for three years
18. A replacement drivers’ licence can take up to three years
19. Electricity Supply Commission is unable to send out monthly accounts, so estimates the usage – a previous average usage of $250,000 p.m. is estimated at $24 million
20. A monthly govt. pension of $1350 will buy one small sip of Coke. But this is not an issue because you can’t buy cokes anyway. Pensioners living outside our borders would receive half one US cent per month

Zimbabwe, Inflation, Poverty

This entry was posted by Noktula on Friday, October 7th, 2005 at 1:38 am. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.