HARARE DIARY : NEW ABDUCTIONS !

Esther (not her real name), 28, a professional living and working in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, describes how the daily struggle to survive carries on with no end in sight.

We were discussing our illusive government of national unity at work the other day and one of the ladies, voicing her opinions, said how obviously it's not working and the only way forward is by holding new elections.
Then the topic turned to the recent abductions; and whether or not the rumours about the renewed violence are true; and if it has actually started again.
You used to have to be very secretive - hiding in your car, and what-what, going undercover. Not any more
One of my colleagues confirmed it was true - people in the rural areas are disappearing in the night, she told us.
She had travelled to her family rural area over the weekend and said everyone was talking about it. She said it is becoming a real worry for the rural folk once more and if we were to have new elections, then how much worse could things get.
I was talking about it to my cousin, who is a human rights activist, to find out if it was true. He also said it was, further confirming my fears.
Cashier contrast
The latest change in our lives is the presence of different tills for different currencies in some of the shops - tills for Zimbabwean dollars and tills for foreign currency; and since this has come about, the supermarkets who are trading in foreign currency are doing a very brisk trade.
We have not seen supermarket shelves this full since June last year.
The only items you can pay for in Zimbabwean dollars are bread, meat and vegetables. For everything else, you have to pay in foreign currency.
When you look at the cashiers - you should see the contrast - the ones at the local currency tills are just sitting there while the foreign exchange cashiers are overwhelmingly busy.
It makes it look like everyone has foreign currency.
So blatant
But it makes you question whether people do actually have the money or if it is because they have no other choice?
Basically if you want to buy something then you have to find yourself some US dollars. You have no option.

I hate to wonder how the poor are going to get medical attention, especially when major hospitals are closing down in the midst of an epidemic
The only way of getting foreign currency these days is on the black market. You cannot go to a bank any more.
It is not hard to get US dollars though.
The black market guys used to be very subtle but nowadays they are everywhere. A lot of them hang out at the Eastgate shopping centre and so I tend to go there.
You just walk up to some of them, ask for the going rates, choose who you want to do business with and then exchange and that's it.
It is so blatant.
You used to have to be very secretive - hiding in your car, and what-what, going undercover. Not any more.
Now it is right out there in the open and even if a policeman walks by he won't even give you a second glance.
Midst of an epidemic
On Friday I went to one of the 'foreign-currency-supermarkets-with-full shelves' because I needed to buy milk, pasta, salt and some flour. It came to about $16.
The equivalent in a supermarket in Johannesburg would cost about 60 rand which is about $6 - and so, you see, you do have to pay a lot more.
Prices are really inflated, and it is not down to import taxes because they are supposed to have been removed.
It must just be because the shopkeepers know that you need it and so you will pay whatever they mark it as. All these supermarkets charge the same too so there's no such thing as shopping around.
The supermarkets in poor areas still only sell in Zimbabwean dollars but they don't have to anything to buy - their shelves are still empty.

The stark reality is that they will be coming to hospital to die, because there is nobody to care for anyone - Dr Malvern NyamutoraJunior Doctors' Association.

Death throes of Harare's hospitals

We are on the brink of a cholera epidemic.
The reported cases in the newspapers and on TV seem to be shockingly understated - very moderate figures compared to what people are saying.
I hate to wonder how the poor are going to get medical attention, especially when major hospitals are closing down in the midst of an epidemic and when GPs ask to paid in foreign currency.
There seems to be a feeling around - resignation might be a good way to explain it.
People just keep carrying on, like no-one knows anything but struggle.
Read Esther's previous diary

BBC NEWS REPORT.