Explore Zimbabwe: A Southern African Gem

[zimbob]

Zimbabwe is a beautiful country in southern africa and its main neighbour is South Africa. This small country used be the bread basket of Southern Africa due to a vibrant agricultural system and sound economic policies.However since the "land crisis" of 2001 the situation has gone berzerk with infaltion now an unbeliavable 15000% and 1USdollar = 1,5million Zim Dollar, unemployment around 70-80%!

I thought I would share this information with others in this forum.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Zimbabwe is a beautiful country in southern africa and its main neighbour is South Africa. This small country used be the bread basket of Southern Africa due to a vibrant agricultural system and sound economic policies.However since the "land crisis" of 2001 the situation has gone berzerk with infaltion now an unbeliavable 15000% and 1USdollar = 1,5million Zim Dollar, unemployment around 70-80%!

I thought I would share this information with others in this forum.

That is terrible to hear! Can you explain what precisely has happened - what is the "land crisis"?

The internet is a great way to get the message out.

 

[zimbob]

Zimbabwe formely Rhodesia was a British colony under "minority rule" until 1980 when Robert Mugabe became president after 7 yrs of fighting. When he came to power,he kept the "colonial system of governance in place for a while" which helped the country in a sence. It is believed that the war was caused by the land imbalance between white Rhodesians at that time and the landless black people among other reasons.

However, when Mugabe became president he did not fulfill his promises to the landless people and instead helped himself and others around him to a lavish lifestlye, private helicopters,state of art vehicles from some of the world's most expensive auto makers,posh mansions etc ect...

The "war vets" and the landless became angry each year until they decided to grab land as a last resort, things happened very quickly at this point and because it is African tradition that leaders tend to hang on to power under the most daring conditions, Mugabe is still in power at age 84 since 1980! under sanctions from the US, EU, Australia, NZ, UK and many others but still hanging on!

 

[Garth]

Mugabe has also sent his soldiers to fight in the Congo, a military expense his country could not afford.

Like all dictators he relies on paying his army and cronies to support him, at the people's expense of course.

It might also be relevant that although the people are now starving he has amassed a private fortune.

Garth

 

[momentum_waves]

Mugabe will attempt to hang onto power to prevent his being taken to the Hague to be tried for crimes against humanity. During the period of his early presidency, he engineered the genocide of the tribe (Matabele) of his political rival - Joshua Nkomo. Some 800,000 to 1 million people were murdered in the process. Mugabe is an ethnic Shona.

Mugabe is a megalomaniac who rules with brutality & total disregard for human life, or rights.

The fact that his friend & ally, South Africa's president Mbeki, continues to support Mugabe, has extended his reign of terror.

 

[DrClapeyron]

Today, the central bank of Zimbabwe unveiled new curreny notes as high as 750,000 dollars. Obviously hyperinflation is Zimbabwe's biggest issue. This is the same kind of issue that hit Germany in the 1930's. This leads to a shortage of goods in the short run and war in the long run.

Mugabe's land policies scared off investors and caused a lack of capital flow into the country. Investors went elsewhere, Zimbabwe's currency devalued and Mugabe has refused to do anything since.

 

[Gokul43201]

The day Mugabe is gone will be a BIG day for the world. It's quite shocking that the AU keeps bowing to this madman.

If not for the World Food Program, there'd be millions of people dying in Zimbabwe as a direct result of Mugabe's control over farmland and food distribution.

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=2192&l=1

The ZANU-PF government of President Robert Mugabe is carrying out a policy of selective starvation against its political enemies. The denial of food to opposition strongholds has replaced overt violence as the government’s principal tool of repression in Zimbabwe. Mortality and morbidity rates will continue to accelerate if this policy is not reversed.

The most vulnerable sub-group is Zimbabwe’s black farm workers, who have been displaced by ZANU-PF land-grabs. The media, especially in the UK, has concentrated on the plight of hundreds of white farmers forced off the land, but more than 1.5 million black farm workers and family members are at risk of acute hunger.

The high occurance of HIV/AIDS in the area compounds the problem. Currently, about 1 in 3 children are orphaned by AIDS deaths, and these children become prime targets for recruitment into the National Army.

"A child is orphaned every 20 minutes in Zimbabwe," he said. "Every 20 minutes, a child dies of AIDS, and one in eight children die before the age of five, compared with one in 13 children 15 years ago. And three infants, three babies become infected with HIV/AIDS every hour."

Not only that, UNICEF reports, almost one-in-three children in Zimbabwe, or 1.6 million, are now orphaned, often because one or both parents died of HIV/AIDS.

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-04/CR-SCHLEIN-UNICEF-ZIMBAB.cfm?CFID=245762188&CFTOKEN=14195679

I am also quite surprised to read Ivan's post. I imagine if he is not aware of the crisis in Zimbabwe, neither are most Americans. It's probably that Mugabe doesn't get labeled a dictator, and so appears much less harmful than a Saddam Hussein or a Kim Jong Il.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I am also quite surprised to read Ivan's post. I imagine if he is not aware of the crisis in Zimbabwe, neither are most Americans. It's probably that Mugabe doesn't get labeled a dictator, and so appears much less harmful than a Saddam Hussein or a Kim Jong Il.

I'm completely ignorant of the situation in Zimbabwe. I'm glad that zimbob made this thread.

 

[Evo]

Some insight into the food issue.

http://www.mindfully.org/GE/GE4/Zimbabwe-Ends-Dispute-Mugabe10aug02.htm

 

[opus]

They stopped measuring inflation a while ago..

 

[Garth]

Zimbabwe - from bread basket to basket case, unfortunately.

zimbob how do think the rest of the world can save Zimbabwe?

How can we help?

Garth

 

[BobG]

Zimbabwe - from bread basket to basket case, unfortunately.

zimbob how do think the rest of the world can save Zimbabwe?

How can we help?

Garth

Regime change is a common option.

It would probably work much better than in Iraq or Afghanistan. For one thing, the Shona make up a clear majority and there wouldn't be nearly as much ethnic tension. The majority of the population is either Christian or some mixture of Christian/native religion. English is already the official language (although it's the native language of only about 2.5% of the population.)

With an 80% unemployment rate, you could probably get the buy-in of several US companies to build plants in Zimbabwe that could compete with imports coming from less favorable parts of the world.

 

[Oerg]

Well, i was browsing through my newspapers about a couple of weeks back, and then this reporter for the travel section in the newspaper was actually encouraging its readers to look for black market currency exchange where the exchange rate is like 50 times than it should be while on holiday in Zimbabwe. I thought this was actually unbelievable and may be one of the reasons for the crazy exchange rate mentioned by the OP.

 

[wolram]

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/un34.16973.html

We further call for the U.N. system to refrain from interfering in matters that are clearly the domain of member states and are not a threat to international peace and security. Development at country level should continue to be country-led, and not subject to the whims of powerful donor states.

 

[BobG]

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/un34.16973.html

We further call for the U.N. system to refrain from interfering in matters that are clearly the domain of member states and are not a threat to international peace and security. Development at country level should continue to be country-led, and not subject to the whims of powerful donor states.

That would be a pretty natural response of a leader that's despised by most of the industrial world. That attitude doesn't stop Zimbabwe from chairing the Commission on Sustainable Economic Development (CSD). (Fury at Zimbabwe UN roll) Of course, most of the Western UN countries were up in arms about that, too.

My first post was pretty cynical. I don't think you could find much of a stomach, internationally, for another regime change. We're still cleaning up from Bosnia, Kosovo-Serbia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Still, Mugabe's departure would be a positive development in Zimbabwe.

 

[Ian]

Zim never was a 'breadbasket'

I have to correct Zimbob on his comment that Zimbabwe used to be the so-called 'breadbasket' of Africa.
Prior to 1981 Rhodesia was locked in conflict with it's neighbours over its racist system. No African country traded with the Rhodesian regime and indeed they never once supplied Africa with 'bread'.
What they did supply however, was a large cheap tobacco crop to western companies. There was enough maize production to supply the black population in Zimbabwe, and the Rhodesian's & South African's would never supply food to their enemies.
What I do remember of Rhodesia is the smell of aviation fuel after two canberra's flew low over refugee camps outside Lusaka in 1979. Napalm has the same smell, can't forget it, mingled with pork, appetising but nauseating.

 

[CaptainQuasar]

Coming from an American - Mugabe is a bad guy but an important thing to understand about the dynamics of this and the international reaction to it is that Mugabe was a revolutionary hero in the fight that freed Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) from apartheid. The reason why Zimbabwe has been more successful economically than other states in Africa is because while under international sanctions for apartheid Rhodesia (along with South Africa) had to develop much more robust domestic industry than other former colonies in Africa did; unlike other countries they couldn't as easily buy things like refined oil, steel, and manufactured goods from overseas so they had to make it at home. Unfortunately under Mugabe's reign many of the gains that were made during the 20th century have been lost and a large percentage of the industrially skilled white Zimbabweans have been driven out of the country.

It will be a good thing when Mugabe is gone but unfortunately many of the advantages Zimbabwe held probably won't be regained. The best thing may be to try to increase commerce and exchange with South Africa, a more successfully post-apartheid country.

 

[zimbob]

Zimbabwe Burning

I am glad that so many of you have had time to read about Zimbabwe.

The situation is getting worse everyday, with most parts of the country's urban towns going for weeks if not months without running water and electricity in their homes.The shortage of water is largely due to lack of chemicals, broken pipes, electrical blackouts etc.

There is also a serious shortage of local currency even though the highest denomination is now Z$750 000 (about USD$190). This black market exchange rate is now pretty much the official rate!. People had to queue at Banks for hours on Christmas day to get money to buy the little food they could afford for their loved ones!. This is the first time in history that banks were opened on Christmas day in that country!.

I don't think that its possible to have democratic elections in Zimbabwe or other means of regime change as long as Mugabe is still around. The US has done enough elsewhere and if only China and South Africa could stop supporting this murderous regime then things will change until then only time will tell.

 

[Gokul43201]

In January, Zimbabwean banks started printing 10-million dollar bills.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...ews.html?in_article_id=508840&in_page_id=1811

Today, that will just about buy you a loaf of bread in Harare.

Officially, one U.S dollar is worth about 30,000 Zimbabwean dollars. As of last week the real price on the black market was about 35 million dollars, or 1,166 times the official rate. The bill for a simple meal I shared with five other people at an unassuming cafe in Zimbabwe last week came to 581 million Zimbabwean dollars. The black market value: US$21. If I had paid according to the bank's rate? US$19,366.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/129010

If not for an unchecked black market, there would be civil war in Zimbabwe. And unless the AU acts on it, it's just a matter of time...

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

This is the same kind of issue that hit Germany in the 1930's. This leads to a shortage of goods in the short run and war in the long run.

The 1920's. There have been many cases of hyperinflation in the 20th and 21st centuries, but very few of them led to war. In some cases, war led to hyperinflation. This site lists them.

http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation"

 

[Gokul43201]

Elections today! Any reason to be hopeful or will it be heavily rigged, as usual?

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Elections today! Any reason to be hopeful or will it be heavily rigged, as usual?

No and yep, from what I'm hearing it's the usual rigging elections and intimidating of opponents that make Zimbabwe's elections about as little like a democracy as it can possibly be. I don't even know why they go through with this charade it's not like anyone buys it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/29/wzim229.xml"

Zimbabwe's election has only one winner

However they vote today, Zimbabwe's people are set to suffer further under Robert Mugabe's brutal regime, report Peta Thornycroft and Sebastien Berger

Robert Mugabe who has developed a ferocious grip on power
In his 28 years in office, Robert Mugabe
has developed a ferocious grip on power

In a dusty field on the edge of Harare, tens of thousands of people gathered last week to listen to Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Zimbabwean opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change.

Many in the excited crowd were holding up red cards - a symbol stolen from football - that told President Robert Mugabe simply to "Go".

"We are beyond fear and intimidation - do not be afraid," Tsvangirai told them. "The road we have traveled has been difficult and painful, but we have taken up the challenge against this dictatorship."

Difficult and painful do not begin to describe Zimbabwe's experiences. It is stuck in an economic death spiral, with 80 per cent of people unemployed, and the Zimbabwean dollar - worth more than the American greenback at independence - now trading at 70 million to the pound.

Inflation is believed to be over 100,000 per cent, but there are simply not enough goods in the shops for calculations to be accurate.

Hundreds of thousands of desperate Zimbabweans - as well as the outside world - are looking towards today's elections as the moment when that changes, when Mugabe is forced from office and the reconstruction of the country can begin.

But by far the most probable outcome is that he will cling to office whatever the electorate decides - and that the immiseration of his country will continue.

And

Mugabe insists Tsvangirai will never be allowed to be president: "Those who want to vote for him can do so, but those votes will be wasted votes. It will never happen as long as we are still alive - those who planned the liberation struggle." Many, particularly in Harare, fear an election victory for the MDC would simply lead to a violent coup by Mugabe loyalists.

Following Tsvangirai on the campaign trail, it is clear he is well funded - he is able to hire quality loudspeaker systems and distribute thousands of T-shirts.

He has enjoyed a surge in popularity after a period when the MDC's own divisions left it marginalised and impotent. But it amounts to little.

Zimbabwe's elections are not normal exercises in democracy. Few outside observers have any faith in the Zimbabwe Election Commission, appointed by Mugabe: indeed, Tsvangirai is widely believed to have won the last presidential poll in 2002 with a majority of 70,000.

"People are tense, hungry and longing for change," a senior industrialist in Harare told the Telegraph this week. "My workforce is openly saying that if Mugabe wins that means the vote will have been rigged."

They have good reason to be suspicious. According to the independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network, there are so few polling stations in the MDC's urban strongholds of Harare and Bulawayo that each resident will have to be processed in just 20 seconds if all of them are to vote - an impossibility.

And, according to the MDC, nine million ballot papers have been ordered for an electorate of 5.9 million, opening the way for duplicity on a grand scale.

Perhaps most significantly of all, the election results will be tallied in a command centre in Harare, to which no monitors or journalists have ever been allowed access.

Zimbabwe's neighbours in the Southern African Development Community will, nevertheless, declare the polls free and fair. "Regardless of what happens," says an American diplomat, "Mugabe will declare victory."

Some opposition figures are hoping that with Zanu-PF divided by the Makoni candidacy, Mugabe might have lost some of this capacity to rig the outcome.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Mugabe has said he will accept the result should he lose according to this preliminary news report. Sounds like it might not be that clear cut though. Although it looks like the opposition have won given the large majority already, they might not win after all?

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1311134,00.html?f=rss

Zimbabwe's main opposition party has claimed victory in the country's elections based on early results.
Mugabe after casting his vote

The Movement for Democratic Change said it had an early lead in the vote, in which controversial veteran leader Robert Mugabe is fighting for an extended rule.

MDC secretary general Tendai Biti told a news conference: "This far, short of a miracle, we have won this election beyond any reasonable doubt.

"We have won this election."

Mr Biti, who gave partial unofficial results based on returns posted at polling stations where counting had been completed, said "in our view this trend is irreversible".

The electoral body said it would start announcing early partial returns at some point today.

Mr Mugabe, who has ruled the former British colony uninterrupted since independence in 1980, is up against former finance minister Simba Makoni and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC.
Tsvangirai addresses election rally

Facing widespread accusations of vote-rigging - which he denies - Mr Mugabe said he would accept results even if he is defeated.

Mr Biti said: "A tsunami is breathing down our country."

He warned that if the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission announced different results from those posted outside polling centres, the MDC would not accept them.

He said: "That will clearly be dishonesty and we will not accept that. We will not accept results of a stolen election."

Scores of anti-riot police have been patrolling the streets of the capital, Harare, according to witnesses.

 

[Gokul43201]

I think we're going to see a new President after all...but it's going to be close. With over half the polling stations reporting:

In Harare, a new group called the Independent Results Centre says Mr Tsvangirai has won 55% of the vote in the presidential race, against 37% for Mr Mugabe and 5% for independent candidate Simba Makoni

Tsvangirai needs to stay above 50% to avoid a run-off, which, no doubt will be much more extensively rigged.

Tallying of Parliamentary seats is still at an early state and has a long way to go.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7321938.stm

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

Trouble is the army has already said it's only going to accept Mugabe as a candidate, so it's not exactly clear cut. Although I think there might well be large scale riots if they don't go with the so called democratic result. It's obvious to me at least that this isn't really that close. Just as it's fairly obvious he didn't really win the last election, or if he did it certainly wasn't by the landslide result we saw.

 

[Gokul43201]

Here they come...

HARARE, Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe's government raided the offices of the main opposition movement and rounded up foreign journalists, including a New York Times correspondent, Thursday in an ominous indication that he may use intimidation and violence to keep his grip on power.

The New York Times said police took into custody its correspondent Barry Bearak, who was covering the elections.

And...

HARARE, Zimbabwe - The country’s main opposition leader said Wednesday that police beat him repeatedly in the head, back, knees and arm and that he lost a lot of blood in an attack that seemed intended “to inflict as much harm as they could.”

Morgan Tsvangirai, who remains hospitalized, underwent a brain scan, and his lawyer said he may have suffered a skull fracture and internal bleeding as a result of police beatings.

Tsvangirai, 54, and more than 40 other opposition figures were arrested at a prayer meeting Sunday in the latest crackdown on dissent by President Robert Mugabe’s security forces and political supporters.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23940431/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17608712/

 

[Astronuc]

I guess Bush wouldn't want to interfere in a countries internal affairs - even if lives of American citizens are at risk. So much for all the talk about democracy. Oh yeah - that's been dropped.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

I guess Bush wouldn't want to interfere in a countries internal affairs - even if lives of American citizens are at risk. So much for all the talk about democracy. Oh yeah - that's been dropped.

Recounts atm, but it looks like either Mugabe goes or their will be riots? I wouldn't like to live in Zimbabwe if it kicks off. Best thing he can do is bow out gracefully, because a coup or a coup d'etat is the last thing he needs.

Zimbabwe: Mugabe Turns to Force to Reverse Poll Defeat

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu (PF) party - defeated in recent elections after 28 years at the helm - are plotting to retain power through a combination of force and official challenges designed to frustrate the opposition and drain their resources.

This week the government stepped up the deployment of army, police and intelligence units countrywide to campaign for Mugabe in an upcoming runoff poll after he failed to win presidential elections.

This despite the fact that the poll results have not been officially announced, and that a date for the runoff has not been set. Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai has claimed victory in the election.

An increased military presence has been noted and there are fears that Mugabe will use troops to bolster his campaign. Security forces have already arrested dozens of opposition supporters, and MDC officials said they were concerned violent incidents would increase.

During a session of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, chaired by President Thabo Mbeki in New York yesterday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad were among the first to express concern about the crisis. They repeated UN calls for the immediate release of the election results in an effort to end the stalemate.

Mbeki's facilitator, Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi, was due to visit Harare for talks with Mugabe and Tsvangirai yesterday but was unable to because Tsvangirai was out of the country soliciting support from regional leaders.

The MDC remains sceptical of Mbeki's mediation, sources say, and there are behind the scenes negotiations to get Mugabe and Tsvangirai together as a step towards brokering some sort of deal. But, while the stalemate continues, sources said this week that Mugabe and his loyalists were pulling out all the stops to reverse their recent defeat. Meetings have been held countrywide by party structures which reviewed Mugabe's and Zanu (PF)'s loss.

Sources said that Zanu (PF) was consolidating its resources to regain a majority in parliament and then win the presidential election via a runoff or re-run. The strategy includes delaying results to buy time; a runoff poll and coercion to force voters to again vote for Mugabe.

Sources said Mugabe's close ally, Emmerson Mnangagwa, had recently met allies in Johannesburg to discuss fundraising. They said Mugabe wanted the March 29 presidential poll results withheld while the party regrouped . They also hoped that the disputed recount of votes in 23 constituencies would lead to the party regaining a marginal majority in the house.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200804170002.html"

 

[Ian]

Zimbob has misrepresented what has happened in Zimbabwe.
Before 1964 Zimbabwe used to be part of the Federation of Northern, Southern Rhodesia & Nyasaland. Nyasaland (now Malawi) and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) gained independence from the colonialists ~ 1964 but the white minority living in Southern Rhodesia refused to hand over power and declared their own independence in 1966, called UDI, a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. That was when the 'war' started.
I have to object strongly to his notion of Zimbabwe being the 'bread-basket' of Africa. This phrase was born out of war propoganda. From 1966 no-one in Africa bought food from Rhodesia, they were the remaining racist colony and no African nation bought stuff from them. Yes, their economy certainly supported itself but the proceeds did not educate, feed, or look after the health of it's black population. They were marginalised in the strongest manner by the racist government and denied basic human rights, that is why the war started.
The so-called 'vibrant' agricultural system produced mainly tobacco for western companies and the sound economic policies were only possible because they refused to share any of it fairly amongst their population.
Mugabe is despised by the west because he is the last remaining African idiot who took up socialist ideologies, it's a cold war thing. Besides he is the same racist as Ian Smith was and has no idea how to run a modern democratic system (not nation).

 

[Gokul43201]

Mugabe is despised by the west because he is the last remaining African idiot who took up socialist ideologies, it's a cold war thing.

And not because he has used violence and starvation as means towards political ends? Not because of the ethnic cleansing of tens of thousands of Ndebele tribespeople? Not for beating up members of teachers' unions or for converting schools into training camps for youth militias? Not for being a violent dictator that has been directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans?

 

[Ian]

I think if you look and see you will find that Mugabe was disliked from before he harmed anyone. The point being that goverments don't give a monkeys who gets hurt of their electorate, they are only concerned with their own 'inter-govermental system' power struggles.
Besides, Mugabe's "Zimbawe" is not the same entity as a modern democracy, it is a sort of African socialist kingdom not much different except in cultural construction to the Asian version currently in use in North Korea.

 

[Gokul43201]

This is sick!

JOHANNESBURG — Only five days before Zimbabwe’s presidential runoff election, the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai announced Sunday that he was pulling out of the race because armed forces backing President Robert Mugabe have made it clear that anyone who votes for Mr. Tsvangirai faces a real possibility of being killed.

At a news conference, Mr. Tsvangirai, who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, or M.D.C., said he was unwilling to ask the party’s supporters to go to the polls on Friday “when that vote will cost them their lives.”

Mr. Tsvangirai’s decision came on a day when governing party youth militia armed with iron bars, sticks and other weapons beat his supporters as they sought to attend a rally for him in Harare.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/world/africa/23zimbabwe.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

 

[AhmedEzz]

Where is the international community? dictators are all over Africa, why doesn't anyone do anything about it? Where is Mr.Bush and his never-ending calls for democracy? where is the EU? UN? I hope people living in Zimbabwe will find courage to stand up to this regime.

 

[DrClapeyron]

Who said democracy must be fair?

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Who said democracy must be fair?

Well if people didn't actually vote him in then it isn't exactly democracy is it? Voting at the point of a gun isn't exactly democratic either.