The War on Chuddies

Today's Guardian reports reports that the importation of "articles of second-hand undergarments of any type, form or description, whether purchased, donated or procured in any other manner", is now forbidden, according to statutory instrument 150 of 2011.

The measure is apparently the brainchild of finance minister Tendai Biti of the rival Movement for Democratic Change. Biti was shocked to discover many Zimbabweans bought used underwear from flea markets or stalls.

"I am told we are now even importing women's underwear in this country," he was quoted saying recently. "How does that happen? If you are a husband and you see your wife buying underwear from the flea market, you would have failed... If I was your in-law, I would take my daughter and urge you to first put your house in order if you still want her back."

Zimbabwe has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, estimated at more than 90%. Poverty has driven many to buy secondhand underwear from markets which are supplied with used stock or donations from the west.
The ban, which became effective on 30 December, has reportedly triggered protests from traders who say it will push them out of business.

But there are hopes the change will help protect Zimbabwe's struggling domestic textiles industry. Local media also suggested that it would improve public hygiene and self-esteem.

In an editorial, NewsDay argued: "One of the best laws that our country has put in place in recent years is the total ban on the importation of secondhand underwear. "Wearing used underwear is most dehumanising and no government worth its salt should allow its citizens to be abused to this extent. It is a fact that our flea markets receive bales of clothing, some of which is exclusively used underwear, some of which is soiled. What nation have we become that knowingly subjects its people to humiliation and disease? It is inconceivable for a country to open its borders for the importation of used underwear – to allow our women to wear undergarments that other women in other countries have used and discarded."

Under the new legislation the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority will charge 40% duty and 15% VAT on all underwear imports and apply a US$3 levy on every kilogram of underwear entering the country.

What to say? I know I would not be keen on second hand underwear but perhaps there are a few other things for the Zimbabwean government to concentrate on... just a thought...

Mugabe rubs his people's noses in the dirt again

On Friday had a cheerful message of greetings to Robert Mugabe wishing him well on his birthday:

“Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, on Feb. 18 sent a message of greetings to Robert G. Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, on the occasion of his 85th birthday.

Kim in the message wished the president good health and success in his work for the stability of Zimbabwe and its people's well-being.”

Today’s Observer reports, unsurprisingly, that Robert Mugabe marked his 85th birthday yesterday with a sumptuous banquet in Harare at the start of a week of parties – at a time when prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai said "maybe US$5bn (£ 3.5bn)" would be needed to rehabilitate the collapsed health, social and education systems.

Celebrations got under way on Friday as schoolboy pipers, accompanied by drum majorettes, marched through the decrepit capital and members of a ruling party youth organisation sold $10 raffle tickets.

A $100-a-ticket gala dinner at Harare's Rainbow Towers Hotel on Wednesday is advertised as a musical extravaganza. The parties will culminate on Saturday with a public feast and concert at Chinhoyi, about 50 miles west of Harare, which is to be televised. Dozens of animals will be slaughtered for the event and guests include hundreds of children also born on 21 February.

Political science professor John Makumbe said the birthday display was the latest of many signals that the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) does not intend to respect the power-sharing agreement that saw Tsvangirai sworn in on 11 February. "The money for the parties and the cattle and chickens donated are extracted from people virtually against their will," he said. "Thousands have died from cholera and many students are not attending school or university because teachers are not paid. It's unbelievable that he can blow quadrillions of Zimbabwe dollars on parties."

Zanu-PF youth leader Absolom Sikhosana defended the Chinhoyi event: "It is not a feast per se, but an event where youths have a chance to meet their hero. This inspires them to emulate his exemplary qualities of nation-building, patriotism and principled leadership."

In a sign of the times, the 21 February Movement set out to raise only $500,000 (£350,000) for Mugabe's birthday week against a reported $1.2m last year. Last week Sikhosana made a heartfelt plea on national radio for benefactors to make good on their promises: "We know things are tough, but it would be nice to honour the pledges you made." According to some reports, pledges for only £70,000 have come in, much in the form of food donations.

I suppose this goes to show that a leopard never changes its shorts..... At least it's good to see that the KCNA is as full of crap as it ever is!

End of the line for a forgotten dictator?

Until today I had totally forgotten about former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. I had no idea he had been living in Zimbabwe since he was deposed in 1991. For the last 17 years or so he has, apparently, been dividing his time between a heavily guarded villa in Harare, a farm near the capital and a retreat on Lake Kariba.

Last year an Ethiopian court sentenced him in absentia to death after convicting him of genocide (Genocide under Ethiopian law also covers the destruction of opposition groups). Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Mugabe flatly refused to extradite a man who helped to arm Zanu (PF)’s guerrillas during Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation war.

According to today’s Times, however, Mengistu’s future looks less assured. Next week the Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change will enter a unity government with Zanu (PF) and Nelson Chamisa, its chief spokesman has stated that Mengistu’s extradition to Ethiopia would be “high on the agenda” of that new administration.

“Zimbabwe should not be a safe haven or resting place for serial human rights violators like Mr Mengistu,” he said. “We can’t shelter purveyors of injustice.”

Few Zimbabweans would shed tears if Mengistu, 71, is sent home to the gallows. Mr Mugabe has spent millions of dollars providing him with a villa in a barricaded cul-de-sac in the Gun Hill suburb, with round-the-clock protection and any number of other benefits. In return Mengistu has advised Mr Mugabe on security issues, and was allegedly the mastermind of Operation Murambatsvina in 2006 in which security forces and Zanu (PF) thugs razed the homes of 700,000 slum-dwellers regarded as MDC supporters.

Mengistu has plenty of experience in that field. He seized power after a military coup in 1974 that ended Emperor Haile Selassie’s 44-year rule. In 1976 he mounted the “Red Terror” campaign against opponents of his Derg regime. Over the next few years more than half a million people were thought to have been killed in what Human Rights Watch called “one of the most systematic uses of mass murder ever witnessed in Africa”. The victims included the former Emperor and numerous members of the Royal Family, and Mengistu is said to have executed some of them himself.

He turned Ethiopia into a Marxist state, backed by the Soviet Union, earning the sobriquet the “Black Stalin”. He created giant collective farms that had the same ruinous effect on agricultural production as Mr Mugabe’s land seizures in Zimbabwe, and that helped to cause terrible famine.

His Soviet-armed military sought to crush an independence war in Eritrea, and an uprising in Tigray province, but when the Soviet Union collapsed Mengistu lost his sponsors. In 1991 he fled to Zimbabwe as the Tigre People’s Liberation Front and the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front surrounded Addis. Washington asked Mr Mugabe to accept him to end the bloodshed.

In 1995 Mengistu narrowly survived an assassination attempt by two Eritreans as he took an afternoon stroll with his wife near Garvin Close, his Harare home. Otherwise he has maintained a low profile. As Mr Mugabe’s popularity has plunged, Mengistu was rumoured to have made contingency plans to move to North Korea.

As I said I had totally forgotten about Mengistu. I thought he had died years ago. Sadly so many former dictators, be it Amin in Saudi, or any number elsewhere escape retribution dying in their beds. While I do not support his execution he is one of many people I would love to see pay for his crimes. On the other hand I am not sure that the MDC will be successful in extraditing him while Mugabe and his cronies are still around

Where everyone is a trillionaire!

That money can’t by you everything is an eternal Truth. However it is not a good situation when you money can’t buy you anything....as is the case in Zimbabwe.

According to the BBC on Friday Zimbabwe is introducing a Z$100 trillion note. This will be worth initially £30 (but this is likely to reduce fast) 10, 20 and 50 trillion dollar notes are also being are also being released to help Zimbabweans cope with hyperinflation.

The latest annual figure for inflation, estimated in July last year, was 231m% - the world's highest. "In a move meant to ensure that the public has access to their money from banks, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has introduced a new family of banknotes which will gradually come into circulation, starting with the Z$10 trillion," Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper quotes a bank statement as saying.

But previous issues of new banknotes - and the dropping of several zeros from the currency - have done little to help Zimbabweans cope with inflation. On Tuesday, a 50bn Zimbabwean dollar note was issued, less than a month after a Z$500m bill was released.

Prices can double every day, and food and fuel - for those without US dollars - are in short supply. Some shops are licensed to sells goods in foreign currency but everyone from vegetable sellers to mobile phone service providers peg their prices to the US dollar. Most groceries are brought in by Zimbabweans from neighbouring South Africa, Botswana or Zambia, further driving up prices.

MOAB - The Mother of all bank notes

If there is one crumb of comfort to be derived it’s that Zimbabwe, while in an utterly disastrous state, has not quite gotten to the level of hyperinflation that Hungary saw post WWII. For now the highest banknote will be for:

100 000 000 000 000 Z$

The highest denomination banknote issued in Hungary was for:

100 000 000 000 000 000 000 Pengos

The way Zimbabwe is going it wont be long before notes of these size are issued....

Morgan Tsvangirai pulls out of Zimbabwean election

The BBC reports that Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is pulling out of Friday's presidential run-off, thus handing victory to Mugabe. Mr Tsvangirai said there was no point running when elections would not be free and fair and "the outcome is determined by... Mugabe himself". He called on the global community to step in to protect Zimbabweans.

The MDC says at least 70 supporters have been killed in recent months. At a press conference on Sunday, Mr Tsvangirai said: "It is for the world to see there is no need to proceed with this so-called election if the outcome is determined by President Mugabe himself. We will not play the game of Mugabe."

On Sunday, the opposition was due to stage a rally in the capital but supporters of Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF occupied the stadium venue and roads leading up to it. Witnesses reported seeing hundreds of youths around the venue wielding sticks, some chanting slogans, and others circling the stadium crammed onto the backs of trucks. They reportedly set upon opposition activists, leaving a number badly injured.

Mr Mugabe has said he will never accept a Zimbabwe run by the MDC. On Saturday, South Africa sent two mediators to Harare, just days after its President, Thabo Mbeki, went to Zimbabwe himself, for separate talks with Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai, possibly a final effort to persuade Mr Mugabe to cancel the election run-off, and to persuade both sides to begin negotiations on a government of national unity.

Well it seems that Mugabe got his victory. May he choke on it.

Mugabe finally admits food shortages but blames Britain

Robert Mugabe has finally admitted that Zimbabwe faces a grave food crisis amid the collapse of the country's agriculture. But he blamed it on "racist" Britain trying to oust him at this month's presidential election. Responding to pleas at a campaign rally from local officials of the ruling Zanu-PF party "to ensure the speedy distribution of food in the province as people were running out of supplies", Mugabe accepted there was a crisis.

The World Food Programme says 45% of Zimbabweans are suffering chronic malnourishment because of "poor agricultural policies and a declining economy". The WFP feeds about 2.5 million people and other agencies are providing food to about 1 million. But large numbers of people are surviving on far fewer calories than they need, leaving them vulnerable to illnesses, particularly the large proportion of the population with HIV at risk of developing full-blown Aids.

The government had promised "the mother of all agricultural seasons" this year after repeated crop failures. But agriculture has again been hit by the weather, compounded by a fall in production since the redistribution of white-owned farms to black farmers. The situation has been worsened by a shortage of fertilisers because of a lack of currency for imports, and frequent power cuts that have hit irrigation. Overall food production has fallen by about 70%. Mugabe has, until now, ridiculed claims of a food crisis as "western propaganda". Now he says it is a foreign conspiracy led by Britain to return the land to white farmers.

At a separate rally to hand out 500 tractors, 50,000 ox-drawn ploughs and combine harvesters to small-scale farmers, Mugabe blamed food shortages on western sanctions, which Britain says are aimed only against senior political figures and their families, but which the Harare government alleges are also blocking international loans. "When government embarked on the land reform programme, the dark forces of imperialism sought to strangle our agro-based economy through the spiteful closure of financial loans and grants to us. They tell us that the sanctions are targeted - lies!" Mugabe said ."This hate programme by Britain and her fellow racists imposed unjustified sanctions on Zimbabwe in futile attempts to frighten us off our land. They should remember that we are not that easily scared away. Indeed, they should also remember that we cannot desecrate the sacrifices that we paid for this country, not today, never, never, ever."

Mugabe said the government had ordered 530,000 tonnes of maize but only 5% of that had been delivered because of "logistical problems" caused by Zambian railway workers "taking their time" to load goods wagons "as they did not understand the severity of the problem in Zimbabwe". The country needs 2m tons of maize each year to feed its population.

Hmm, I find it grimly amusing to see Mugabe trying to foist the blame for the rank incompetence of his regime on to external conspirators. The truth is that he is the architect of Zimbabwe’s misfortune and nobody else. Zimbabweans go to the polls on 29 March but it is unlikely that he will be defeated. Despots like Mugabe will do everything they can to cling to power. I only hope it does not end in civil war.

Mugabe and the planeloads of cash

It is normal practice for despots and dictators to strip their nation’s assets and send them overseas, preferably to a nice discreet bank account in Switzerland or the Caymans. Robert Mugabe, however, is a despot who bucks that trend – He ships planeloads of cash INTO Zimbabwe to prop up his faltering regime.

According today’s Sunday Times planeloads of banknotes are flying into Harare almost every day to keep up with the demand of a nation with 100,000% inflation. Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is receiving more than €500,000 (£382,000) a week for delivering bank notes at the rate of Z$170 trillion a week. The highest value 10m Zimbabwe dollar note worth just 20p. “The regime is surviving by printing money,” said Martin Rupiya, professor of war and security studies at the University of Zimbabwe. “At this stage there is no other way.”

According to a source at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, G&D delivers 432,000 sheets of banknotes every week to Fidelity printers in Harare, where they are stamped with the denomination. Each sheet contains 40 notes and the current production is entirely in Z$10m notes. Some of this money was used to award huge pay rises to the army in an apparent move to buy their loyalty ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections on March 29. Teachers belonging to a union supportive of the government were also given large sums. Soldiers received windfalls of between Z$1.2 billion for privates and Z$3 billion for officers, while teachers received Z$500m on average. Those belonging to the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe, which criticises Mugabe, were excluded.

“G&D are literally bankrolling the regime,” said a Zimbabwean banker who could not be named for fear of reprisals. “These notes are being used to buy votes, to purchase foreign exchange to import electricity and vehicles to keep their regime going, and to fund the import of Chinese water cannons and police equipment to keep us intimidated. They are profiting from evil and should be named and shamed.”

G&D’s involvement is embarrassing for the German government which has been one of the most vocal supporters of EU sanctions against members of the Mugabe regime. Chancellor Angela Merkel has taken a tough stance on Zimbabwe, speaking out at the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon last December to insist that the world cannot stand by while “human rights are trampled underfoot”. A German foreign ministry spokesman said, however: “It’s their economic decision. According to current EU sanctions, the government does not have any legal basis to take action.”

G&D has been printing the country’s notes for several decades, and provided the same service to Mugabe’s predecessor Ian Smith.

Mugabe smears Makoni

Robert Mugabe yesterday smeared presidential candidate Simba Makoni by labelling him a "prostitute". Former finance minister had declared himself a candidate two weeks ago

“I have compared him to a prostitute,” he said , referring to Mr Makoni’s willingness to appeal to disenchanted members of the ruling ZANU(PF) party, as well as members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. “A prostitute could have stood (as a presidential candidate). He is saying, I have so many boyfriends, some in the MDC, some in ZANU(PF), so I can go for nomination (as a candidate). But a prostitute could have done better, because she has clients.” He and his interviewer on state television doubled up with laughter (ah the joys of an independent media).

Mr Makoni, 57 is one of the longest surviving senior members of Mr Mugabe’s party but he is not tainted with the corruption and brutality of nearly all the rest, He declared that he was standing against Mr Mugabe because of his “failure of leadership”. Mr Makoni’s decision has caused major upsets within ZANU(PF) triggering unprecedented signs of rebelliousness. Most of his officials feel the distress of blackouts, water cuts, streets flowing with sewage and the worst inflation in the world as much as other Zimbabweans.

Mr Makoni signalled the start of his election campaign by grinning boyishly in a full-page advertisement in a critical weekly newspaper, with the motto, “Simba for the people!” Godfrey Chanetsa, his spokesman, said he had tried to insert the same advertisement in the state-controlled stable of weeklies and dailies, but was told they were “fully booked”. Mr Mugabe’s “prostitute” slur came in a numbing hour-long interview - the first of two - on state television to mark his 84th birthday on Thursday. There were scores of advertisements inserted by bankrupt government agencies in the government-controlled radio, television and press. The main daily newspaper, the Herald, had two birthday supplements that lauded Mr Mugabe as “the collective consciousness of revolutionaries the world over”, and praised his “visionary leadership”. Each hourly news bulletin was preceded by a version of “Happy Birthday”, composed for the occasion.

I daresay Mugabe’s already got the stuffed ballot boxes on standby...

Inflation passes the 100,000% mark in Zimbabwe

The official rate of inflation in Zimbabwe gone past the 100,000% barrier, according the the state central statistical office. The nation with the next worst inflation is Iraq with a rate of around 60%. In a brief statement, the statistics office said inflation rose to 100,580% in January, up from 66,212% in December. The new official figure is below the rate calculated by independent analysts - approximately 150,000%.

Zimbabwe, a former regional breadbasket, is facing acute shortages of food, hard currency, gasoline and most basic goods in an economic meltdown blamed on disruptions in the agriculture-based economy after the seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms began in 2000, accompanied by political violence and turmoil. Economic hardship is a key issue in national elections scheduled for March 29. Inflation, food shortages and the crumbling of power, water, sanitation, roads, phones and communications and other utilities have fuelled deep divisions in the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Gross domestic product in Zimbabwe fell from about $200 in 1996 to about $9 a head last year.

Nice one Mugabe

While on the subject of diesel and Zimbabwe

In 2005 a government controlled newspaper, the Manica Post, reported that prostitutes in Mvuma ,Zimbabwe (200km south-west of Harare), were demanding payment in diesel from South African long haul lorry drivers.

Lorry drivers en route from Beit Bridge to Harare were asked to pay for the ladies' services in 20 litre lots of diesel. The income provided from selling the fuel to locals would apparently double their normal income.

While there is no indication that this form of payment is still going on it does show how prized diesel is in Zimbabwe.

Source IOL South Africa

Surely nobody is this gullible.... On the other hand.

In desperate straits people will clutch at straws (and sometimes even mix their metaphors). We see this all the time. With Zimbabwe in its current parlous state it is perhaps no surprise that people will believe the utterly incredible. When medium Nomatter Tagarira claimed that she could produce refined diesel out of a rock just by striking it with her staff, members of the Zimbabwean government thought they might have the solution to the country’s fuel crisis.

After witnessing her miraculous gift they gave her five billion Zimbabwean dollars in cash (worth £1.7 million at the start of the year but probably now worth £15.75 and falling) in return for the fuel. Ms Tagarira was also given a farm food and an armed guard on the rock. One year on and officials realised they had been duped. Ms Tagarira is now in custody, awaiting trial on charges of fraud or, alternatively, of being “a criminal nuisance”. Details from court papers apparently reveal that Ms Tagarira convinced Cabinet ministers, ruling party heavy-weights and top army and police officers that by striking the rock with her staff she could produce enough fuel to supply the country for 100 years.

Ms Tagarira had discovered a large bowser of diesel last year, suspected to have been abandoned during the country’s civil war in the 1970s. She laid pipes from the bowser to a point at the bottom of the hill. Whenever she assembled an audience, she would strike a rock and an assistant at the top of the hill would open the tap and fuel would pour out. The bowser eventually ran dry but that didn’t stop Ms Tagarira. Who would buy diesel from lorry drivers and keep it in the pipe on the pretext it was coming from a rock,” court report said.

One anonymous lawyer commented “It is not the woman who ought to be arrested; it is the idiots who authorised this criminal waste of public money,”

It looks like the ones born every minute in Zimbabwe got to run the country

Now Mugabe presides over the starvation of his people

Zimbabwe's bakeries have shut and supermarkets have warned there will be no bread for the foreseeable future as the government admitted that wheat production had collapsed following the seizure of white-owned farms. The agricultural ministry announcement that the wheat harvest is only about a third of what is required; imports are held up by lack of hard currency.

To make the situation even worse, the maize harvest is expected to be just as bad. The World Food Programme says at least a quarter of the population will need food aid in the coming months. It describes hunger in some parts of the country, which used to be a food exporter, as "acutely serious". Last week, the government said it plans to import 100,000 tonnes of wheat but acknowledged that a shipment of 35,000 tonnes was held up in Mozambique because of a shortage of hard currency to pay for it.

The agriculture minister, Rugare Gumbo, has blamed the food shortages on black farmers who have taken over formerly white-owned land. "I am painfully aware of the widespread theft of stock, farm produce, irrigation equipment and the general vandalism of infrastructure by our new farmers," he said. I am disappointed that our new farmers have proved to be failures since the start of the land reform programme in 2000. In spite of all the support government has been pouring into the agricultural sector, productivity and under-utilisation of land remains issues of concern."

The government's admission that the land redistribution has failed to deliver the promised boost to food production coincides with a deadline for the last white farmers to vacate their land. The farms were nationalised last year and the handover to the state was set for today. Any farmer remaining on their former land faces prosecution for trespassing on state property. About 50 farmers have already been summonsed by the courts.

The plan to compel firms to sell a majority of their equity to black Zimbabweans will almost certainly make Zimbabwe’s economic situation even worse/ The government has ignored the protests of some foreign investors, including South African banks and mining houses. With the collapse of tobacco production, mining is now the country's largest source of foreign currency. Zimbabwe's minister of indigenisation, Paul Mangwana, said those companies that do not like it can "pack their bags and go. If they feel that we went into the bush for them to enjoy our wealth then they can leave. We are talking about the total liberation of this country. I have no apologies for that," he said.

President Robert Mugabe continues to blame his country's financial problems on what he calls British-led economic sanctions. I have said it before and I will say it again, Zimbabwe will be better off when that piece of garbage is deposed or dead. As for Paul Mangwana, His words about the total liberation of his country is all well and good. It would be somewhat better if total liberation did not mean Zimbabweans had not been liberated from access to food.

Your country has gone down the crapper:

Unemployment is 80%, inflation is in four figures, what do you do turn your economy around? If you’re Zimbabwe you approve legislation that will force white business owners to hand over 51% of their business interests to black people.

Paul Mangwana, the minister in charge of black empowerment, said only white people "disadvantaged by the colonial system" before independence in 1980 were defined as "indigenous" Zimbabweans who would be allowed to keep majority control of businesses. "The bill is not about economics, but politics. It is about the total liberation of Zimbabwe. The legislation has yet to be approved by the senate and signed into law by President Robert Mugabe, although I would imagine these are formalities.

Like the farm takeovers, the purpose of the bill is to correct colonial-era imbalances. The farm takeover was of course a triumph... (if the colour of the sky in your world is pink with purple spots). It is a pathetic attempt by a vile thug to divert attention away from the disaster that is the country’s economy.

Mugabe record to be Zimbabwe’s number one for life

Zimbabwe may have fallen into the abyss, its people may be starving, its infrastructure has collapsed but everything is okay: president-for-life, turned Sun King, Robert Mugabe, has recorded a pop song that will surely raise the morale of a beleaguered nation. Well not quite- Mugabe’s voice has been sampled on a record called "Beitbridge" by Nonsikelelo (Nonsi).

According to Zim Online Nonsi is a popular supporter of government propaganda. The song, arranged in Zimbabwean pop style, features Nonsi’s singing lines such as: “Come to Zimbabwe and see the city of Beitbridge . . . our beautiful city . . . a symbol of a lovely country . . . the future of our children lies in our hands...” Mugabe provides the chorus: “Pamberi neBeitbridge (forward with Beitbridge) . . . nekuvaka Beitbridge (forward with developing Beitbridge) . . . kudya kuBeitbridge (food to the people of Beitbridge)... Dhorobha redu iri hatidi kuti murambe muri shure richisekwa, aiwa. Takazvipira kuti Beitbridge tiisimudzire isvike pamusoro (we don’t want Beitbridge to lag in development. We are committed to the development of Beitbridge)…”

The song is being played with “nauseating frequency” on all stations in Zimbabwe. An announcer at ZBC, who cannot be named, told Zim Online : “That one (Beitbridge) is being treated by bosses here (ZBC) as second only to the national anthem. They are so crazy about the recording and we play it at least twice in every hour. And that’s an order by the way; it’s not by choice because no sane presenter would play that kind of stuff that talks about giving food to the people of Beitbridge when everyone knows there is no food to give. It’s being spiteful; it’s sick, immoral, insensitive and ill-timed.”

Although it has reached the lower reaches of the Zimbabwe top 20, most people see it for what it is: an ugly propaganda piece created in a pointless attempt to endear Mugabe with Zimbabwe’s opposition southern regions. The sooner that Mugabe dies or is deposed, the better.

Zimbabwe may get a lifeline from southern African governments who have a plan to rescue the shattered the nation's economy in exchange for political reforms. The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) has drawn up proposals in which the reserve banks of South Africa and Botswana would make their huge foreign currency reserves available to Zimbabwe.

The intention would be to stabilise the exchange rate of the Zimbabwe dollar and curb hyperinflation so that the country can buy foreign exchange and import essential goods. Zimbabwe’s economy is in collapse, inflation is rampant and much higher than the official rate of 5,000%. In effect Zimbabwe’s monetary control would be surrendered to the South African Reserve Bank.

At least 33 prominent business executives were fined for defying an edict to slash their prices by half. They were among more than 1,300 business people arrested for defying an edict imposed after costs quadrupled in a week. Basic commodities have completely disappeared from most shop shelves since store owners were ordered to roll back prices to those charged as of 18 June. Fuel supplies have also run dry after oil distributors were ordered to sell the commodity at half the price of importing it.

Just like any despot Mugabe has scapegoated, retailers accusing them of ratcheting up prices sharply to cause unrest among the electorate and instigate his downfall (somehow this is unlikely – Mugabe’s gross economic mismanagement is doing this quite nicely). He deserves to be thrown to the wolves but the people of Zimbabwe desperately need stability. The plan, if accepted, may give the people just that.

Zimbabwe staring into the abyss

According to yesterday’s Guardian the US ambassador to Harare predicted that Zimbabwe's inflation will rocket to 1.5m% before the end of the year. Ambassador Christopher Dell said prices were going up twice a day, sapping popular confidence in a government that is now "committing regime change on itself".

"I believe inflation will hit 1.5m% by the end of 2007, if not before," he said. "I know that sounds stratospheric but, looking at the way things are going, I believe it is a modest forecast... It destabilises everything. People have completely lost faith in the currency and that means they have lost faith in the government that issues it. By carrying out disastrous economic policies, the Mugabe government is committing regime change upon itself," he said. "Things have reached a critical point. I believe the excitement will come in a matter of months, if not weeks. The Mugabe government is reaching end game, it is running out of options."

Zimbabwe's official inflation is 4,500% but independent economists and retailers say it is actually above 11,000% and picking up speed. For Zimbabweans living in the turmoil of economic meltdown, hyperinflation is spreading poverty, as even basic goods become unaffordable. Government regulations will only permit withdrawals from banks of Z$1.5m per day, which is not enough to buy a week's worth of groceries.

"I can barely cope with inflation in the thousands, but millions? We will die," said Iddah Mandaza, a Harare factory worker. Mr Mandaza said some workers are now saving on transport costs by "going to their jobs on Monday and sleeping at the workplace until Friday. They all share their meals. That's what they do to get by."

Many Zimbabweans are resorting to barter. "I traded some soap for two buckets of maize meal. It was far much better than trying to buy it in the shops," said worker Richard Mukondo. "People in the rural areas are even worse off. You can see they are hungry and their clothes are in tatters. They trade in whatever they can produce: tomatoes, onions, chickens and eggs."

Tony Hawkins, professor of economics at the University of Zimbabwe, said that no one holds cash in the country any more. "People spend it as soon as they get it. Goods hold their value, not money. The government has run out of solutions. At this rate perhaps inflation could hit 1m%, but one gets a sense that things will crack before then."

Thabo Mbeki's efforts to mediate between Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are "the last great hope for a peaceful resolution to Zimbabwe's crisis", Mr Dell said.

Zimbabwe: Solidarity with Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions - for human rights and the rule of law

Laboutstart has launched a campaign to show support for our brothers and sisters in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (see below).

The crisis in Zimbabwe has its origins in President Mugabe's autocratic regime and its mismanagement of the economy. Since the disputed re-election of President Mugabe in 2002, there has been a steady deterioration in human rights and the economy, reducing Zimbabwe to a land of penury and starvation. In 2005, more than 30,000 arrests were made and hundreds of urban dwellings were demolished under the guise of "a clean-up campaign" aimed at workers in the informal economy who had been increasingly turning to the trade unions. In September 2006, a large number of trade unionists and human rights activists were arrested and brutally assaulted following a peaceful protest over the state of the economy and shortages of essential medicines. Alarmed at the growing willingness to oppose the regime openly, including from within the ruling ZANU-PF party, the regime has banned political protests for three months, especially to prevent protests against the Government's economic failures. But the ZCTU and others have responded by stepping up their criticisms and protests, and a general strike has been announced for 3-4 April. Over the weekend of 10-11 March, the security services violently attacked opposition leaders and on 13 March, raided the offices of the ZCTU to seize materials about the strike.

Click here to register your support

Mugabe tells critics to "go hang"

Robert Mugabe responded to western criticism of his mistreatment of opposition leaders by telling the west to "go hang".

Speaking after a meeting with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Mugabe said It's the west as usual ... when they criticise the government trying to prevent violence and punish the perpetrators of that violence, we take the position that they can go hang. Here are groups of persons who went out of their way to effect a campaign of violence and we hear no criticism at all of those actions of violence, none at all. Mr Mugabe added that he would continue to accept humanitarian aid from the West as long as it did not "indulge in our politics".

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was arrested on Sunday following a rally and brutally beaten, is still in hospital. However, doctors say he is now out of danger and has suffered no permanent brain or scalp damage.

The sooner Mugabe is out on his ear the better for Zimbabwe

Judge orders access to detained Tsvangirai

A higt court judge in Zimbabwe has ordered police to allow lawyers access to Morgan Tsvangira, who was arrested yesterday. The judge said Mr Tsvangirai should have immediate access to medical care and should be brought to his court on Tuesday morning or freed.

Mr Tsvangirai, who leads Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested after riot police broke up a public meeting in Harare. Mr Tsvangirai's lawyer Innocent Chagonda said he had seen the opposition leader from a distance of about 10m and that his head was bandaged and face.

The MDC, had split into into two rival factions over than a year ago. Both factions came together at the weekend in a rare show of unity aimed at trying to resolve the political and economic crisis in the country, including chronic unemployment and 1700% inflation, the highest in the world . They were joined by civic and religious organisations in the Save Zimbabwe Campaign. Riot police used tear gas and water cannons as they fought battles with activists gathered for the rally, opposition officials said.

Mugabe feasts, Zimbabwe starves

Robert Mugabe celebrated his 83rd birthday yesterday with a lavish feast in a football stadium in the town of Gweru. Attended ministers, diplomats and ruling party officials the feast is believed to have cost over $1m. Inside the stadium, Mugabe received gifts, including a luxury coach from Zimbabwe’s “all weather” friend China and a stuffed crocodile from cabinet ministers who said it represented the President's 'maturity and wisdom'. Critics quipped that it more aptly sums up Mugabe's cold-blooded, voracious nature.

In a speech broadcast live on radio Mugabe accused the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change of being a front for Britain (the former colonial power). He also laid the blame for Zimbabwe’s current situation on sanctions imposed by the EU. "Our nation faces continued socio-economic challenges from the illegal sanctions (imposed) on us by our detractors as punishment for repossessing our land," His programme of white land seizures has caused agricultural production to plummet by at least 40 percent in the last six years.

Zimbabwe is in economic meltdown: Inflation has hit 1,600 per cent and is predicted to rise to 4,000 per cent later this year. Unemployment is at 80 per cent and severe shortages of fuel, staple foods and medicines have caused thousands of deaths.

Marie Antoinette was alleged to have said “Let them eat cake” when told that the poor did not have enough bread to eat (she didn’t say that at all The phrase comes from Rousseau’s confessions and possible refers to the wife of Louis XIV) Mugabe is not telling his people to eat cake – by having this banquet he appears to be telling them to eat shit. His departure cannot come too soon for the people of Zimbabwe.