Brisk firewood business as cold spell bites Bulawayo

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter

FIREWOOD vendors and sports bar owners recorded brisk business in Bulawayo yesterday while street children and residents pressed to be out of home struggled for warmth on what was arguably the coldest day of the winter in the city so far.

In the Bulawayo’s western suburbs, vendors fired up makeshift braziers (mbawula) early in the morning as they braced for a tough day characterised by plummeting temperatures and cold winds sweeping through the city in the early parts of the morning.

In a notice earlier during the week, the Meteorological Services Department (MSD), had forecast that the country would experience wintry conditions and temperatures as a significant rise in wind pressure was expected over the south-east coast of Southern Africa.

This was anticipated to steer a cold and moist south-easterly airflow into Zimbabwe, the agency said.

The MSD also forecast that as of Saturday, the weather would become cloudy, windy, and cold over Matabeleland South, Masvingo and Manicaland provinces for much of the day with some light rain and drizzle experienced in some places.

“These conditions should extend into Bulawayo Metropolitan, southern parts of Matabeleland North and Midlands, as well as both Harare and Mashonaland East provinces on Sunday 09 June 2024 and only become slightly warmer on Wednesday 12 June 2024 as the clouds break,” said the Met Department.

In Bulawayo, this gloomy forecast came true, with cold temperatures seeing firewood vendors recording brisk business as people sought ways of warming their homes up especially later in the day.

Ms Thandiwe Ndlovu, a firewood vendor at Sekusile Shopping Centre in Nkulumane suburb, told Sunday News that the cold temperatures had improved business for them as the cold day wore on.

“People always buy firewood from us because of power cuts but I can say that things were better today because of the cold temperatures. Most people cannot afford to have their heaters on throughout the day because electricity is expensive so firewood is a much-needed alternative and I think that is the reason why we saw a lot of people buying from us to warm up their homes,” she said.

A bartender at a local joint in the city who spoke to Sunday News anonymously said even though business had been low because of the end of their major draw-card, the English Premier League, they had found themselves recording better business on Friday night and Saturday afternoon as people sheltered from the cold temperatures.

In Bulawayo, imbibers have taken a liking to “dollar deals” that allow them to drink from their cars or illicit spots as these are thought to be cheaper.

Yesterday, however, pubs and bars were the watering holes of choice as people sheltered from the biting cold.

“The dollar deals are bad news for us because they generally attract people from nightspots like ours. On days like these it’s better because the temperatures discourage people from drinking outside,” said the bartender.

For the street children and vagabonds, the cold spell came as a signal of tougher times ahead, as it meant they would most probably spend the next few weeks at the mercy of the elements as winter bites in Bulawayo.