Cathy Buckle's Weekly Letter From Zimbabwe !

Cabbages and condoms !

19th October 2008.

Dear Family and Friends,

This week the word being used to describe the government of national unity is 'deadlocked' and it couldn't be more apt. We are locked in a death grip and things are falling apart at a dramatic pace.

For the benefit of people not in Zimbabwe, let me put a face to deadlock. This morning I went shopping and this is what I saw. In one locally owned supermarket which has branches all over the country they are selling goods in Zimbabwe dollars. On their shelves they had: light bulbs, cayenne pepper and soya mince, a few vegetables which were distinctly past their best and a few packets of meat which didn't look too safe. More than half of the supermarket is completely empty and closed off with strings of white plastic tape.

In another local supermarket which has branches all over the country they are also operating in Zimbabwe dollars. Half of the shop is empty and barricaded off. Spread out on a couple of shelves were the few goods they had for sale: tea leaves, condoms, cabbages and onions. Against one wall stood some crates of fizzy drinks and in a rack a handful of unaffordable imported magazines gave colour to this most dismal scene.

For Zimbabweans who have no access to foreign currency, these two supermarkets offer the full extent of food available to buy in our deadlocked country. The vast majority of Zimbabweans do not have foreign currency or if they do it is one single, precious note hidden away in a safe place - not anywhere near enough to buy food with every week.

The third supermarket I visited has just started selling goods in US dollars and there, if you have foreign bank notes, you can buy sugar, cooking oil, biscuits, cereals, tea, coffee, pasta, tinned goods and a few toiletries. On the wall near the check out tills is a poster announcing what the equivalent of 1 US dollar is in South African Rand, British Pounds and Botswana Pula - no mention of the dead Zimbabwe dollar.

Food shopping is the tip of the nightmare, then there are the bills. This week I was advised that an account I have with an internet service has been terminated for non payment of 1.4 million Zimbabwe dollars. Paying the bill is almost impossible as Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono has banned inter account and electronic transfers and limited cash withdrawals to 50 thousand dollars a day. If I am to pay my bill of 1.4 million dollars in cash I must queue for 2 - 3 hours a day for 28 days by which time the bill will have gone up at a rate I cannot calculate as inflation stands at 231 million percent. The internet provider have said I can pay the bill with a cheque, but because of inflation the cheque should be for 6.5 BILLION dollars.

When Mr Gono banned electronic transfers and inter account transfers he closed business down in one quick and deadly blow. The rich and connected have got dramatically richer as they and their dealers have poured out onto our streets to buy up all those preciously saved single notes at obscenely low rates. People have had no choice but to sell because they cannot get their own money out of the banks - thanks to Mr Gono's punitive policies and crippling limits.

When Mr Gono licensed some shops to sell in foreign currency his policy wiped out Zimbabwe's own supermarkets in one quick and deadly blow - gone is the great propaganda line of Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans. This is what deadlock looks like seven months after we voted for a change in government.

Until next week, thanks for reading and thanks to my email service provider for helping me tell this story for so long,

love cathy.