Zimbabwe now a ‘cuts’ country

via Zimbabwe now a ‘cuts’ country – Newsday October 6, 2015

IT can only point to some serious malady when every critical area of a governing system is punctuated by the word “cuts”. Cuts, cuts and more cuts seem to have become the middle name for most critical areas characterising Zimbabwean life.

Guest Column by Learnmore Zuze

We have witnessed job cuts, salary cuts, water cuts, financial resource cuts and very recently power cuts. What single thing has been spared of cuts in recent times? It would also appear, indirectly, we have even decimated our own population; a“population cut”, due to the hardships forcing millions into foreign lands where they have to scrounge for a living against a plethora of hostilities.

South Africa has an estimated 3 million Zimbabweans, while Botswana and the UK are home to hundreds of thousands who have fled the economic crisis back home. We have even cut our skills base (skills cuts). Honestly, that every area of our life is now accompanied by cuts reflects on a crisis creeping towards a tipping point.

A solution has to be found sooner rather than later. Because from “cuts” we are naturally angling towards “nothingness”; there would be nothing left of the industry, salaries or the skills. Zimbabwe is now unable to feed itself and millions are living in hopeless despair.

Water cuts long became a common feature of Zimbabwean life and, to some extent, this type of “cut” has been tolerated. Many will know that Mabvuku and Tafara high-density suburbs in Harare have trudged on without running water for close to a decade and a half now. In essence, most children born at the turn of the century do not have an idea that tap water once freely gushed from the rusting taps in most suburbs.

Urban people have resorted to the archaic system of digging wells, something unthinkable at one point. Wells dug in towns are least likely to be a pure source of clean water due to a lot of contaminants. Some well water from Mbare, residents can attest, has the pungent smell of diesel. A highly industrialised area like Harare cannot generate pure underground water, but this is likely to fall on deaf ears.

And not because residents are foolhardy, but there is very little option when water supplies only come at a nocturnal hour like 3am only to vanish before a few buckets are filled. Many residents have since done away with tap water and are actually “surprised” to see a drop of water from the tap.

Water cuts remain a headache in cities and, astoundingly, at hospitals. Kadoma General Hospital regularly runs out of tap water. In Harare, it has to take the clemency of churches to install boreholes for an institution as huge as Parirenyatwa Hospital which should be self-sustaining.

It almost goes without mention that the most infamous cuts in recent weeks have been the punitive and psychologically energy-sapping power cuts.

Urban people are dependent on electricity that they cannot socially function well in its absence. The conditioning is more like that of termites which are immobilised when bulb light is switched off.

Power cuts become excruciatingly painful when they have to last for 18 hours. It suffocates most activity which symbolises urban life.

All sorts of theories have been forwarded to explain the exhausting power cuts, but the reality is that nothing is changing. If anything, the situation has continued to deteriorate.

The power cuts jab comes hard on the heels of the shattering job cuts which left over 20 000 breadwinners on the streets. Job cuts have been the most devastating of all the cuts being endured by the impoverished generality of Zimbabweans.

Job cuts have had a ripple effect, adding on to the unsightly statistic of unemployment in this country.

The employment cuts have negatively impacted immediate and extended families and also robbed most landlords of income from tenants who had to resort to accommodation commensurate with their new unfortunate state. The job carnage, no doubt, has extended the strain on other regional countries and we should not be quick to cast blame on other nations when they pour scorn on our people.

They are also frustrated by our never-ending troubles hence the attacks and abuses. We need to put our house in order and stop playing the victim.
Perhaps Zimbabweans should have long seen the domino effect well in time.

Just before the crushing job cuts, there had been a massive wave of salary cuts, with Econet mobile network having slashed employees’ salaries by 35%.Employees had readily agreed to the arrangement yet the worst form of cuts (job cuts) was on the way.

The Labour Act recognises a salary as a fundamental right of the employee which should be granted regardless of performance of a company.

Nonetheless, this has not been feasible in this country where employees would be all too happy to have salary cuts as long as they remain employed. Such is the pathetic state we have reached as a nation.

Honestly, a country denoted by “cuts” is unwell and if one thing is clear, it is this: The end of the Government of National Unity marked the beginning of an unmitigated socio-economic free-fall, and slowly we are marching towards a state worse than that experienced in 2008.

Learnmore Zuze is a legal researcher, author and media analyst. He writes here in his own capacity. E-mail:lastawa77@gmail.com