USUALLY over the years, when you see shops in and around the City of Harare starting to decorate their shops and erecting Christmas trees and lights, you will know that the festive season, especially Christmas time, is around the corner and that it’s time to celebrate yearly achievements.
That’s what I felt today when I entered a shop in town with two of my colleagues, only to come out with two bottles of drinks costing ZWL15 yet barely last year a year ago, the same stuff would sell at RTGS$2.
In view of the above, will Zimbabweans have any reason to celebrate this year’s festive season.
Growing up, we knew that the decorations were associated with long queues, with mostly civil servants rushing to shopping sprees, having gotten their 13th cheque.
But what I saw today were women and men waiting in the till queue for someone doing cash purchases so they could do a swipe with their bank cards in exchange for cash.
I grew up the only Adventist church member in my family so Christmas was never a big deal, but my dad would make me love it by giving me little goodies and he would say afterwards that Christmas was not only bout the birth of Jesus, rather a day to celebrate the year’s achievements and thanking God for taking care of you throughout the year.
I never understood it and would always tell him that it was a pagan day of worship.
Indeed, he meant every word he said because on the particular day, we would all get new clothes from head to toe, delicious meals and it was the only time we were allowed to play with his 3CD Samsung radio changer and play any music we wanted.
When I enrolled for university with my mom in Botswana, it was something else. She would always give me a little big treat so that could take out one of MY many girlfriends, either to Francistown or Palapye where there were lined-up activities and, indeed, I started liking the day not for the birth of Christ which I still believe is pagan related but to celebrate family and some other achievements.
Of course, on the day, the food was always appetising. The moral at home and that aura in the house would make me shout “Merry Christmas”, even against my own will.
The day was something worth spending one’s yearly savings for.
That reminder alone today made me drop some tears as I stood to reflect on my salary, the things I have managed to achieve this year and what I will be giving to my two little brothers who look up to me as a father and bread winner after the death of my father.
I started thinking of my salary that can’t even buy me a pair of trousers or a monthly groceries, yet the same salary last year could give my siblings a life time treatment.
With no university degree to talk about, my dad’s salary made sure we had everything we needed to celebrate every festive season but barely a year after his death, a university graduate can’t even afford to put a smile on his pregnant wife’s face by buying her the much craved for grilled take-away chicken.
Salaries have been eroded, not only for the private sector but also for the civil servants. But prices have horrendously gone up, with a basic 500gr of spaghetti becoming a luxury item.
Prices in most shops are just ridiculously going up, and I can’t even start saving for Christmas because I don’t have anything else to save from my salary before I even start talking about the spiraling rates.
I was just looking around for the price of a bottle of mayonnaise, my mom’s favourite during Christmas time, at least just to appease the spirits. The price was just too high for my purse.
I stopped even thinking roast meat (gochi gochi), my dad’s favorite before he passed on after seeing a small bunch of lettuce selling for ZWL38.
It’s just ridiculous!
I mean, what Christmas holiday is it when you can’t even afford a pocket of potatoes because it costs half your salary?
My brothers are not that demanding; they are ghetto diehards will even ululate for just a pair of trousers, t-shirt and a cap each but alas, that would now be my whole two months’ salary for just one of them, and without a pair of shoes, too.
The decorations in the shops that I saw today made me wish dead the people who have instituted austerity measures for the rest of the poor people in this country while they literally live in five star hotels and purchasing private jets.
The economy has not shown any signs of recovery, and nothing worth mentioning has been achieved towards improving the general standards of life for the ordinary people in the streets.
Since October 2018, prices have gone up more than 12 times. But very few workers have received a raise and those that have, it’s just an increment on paper.
Youths have given up on careers and have chosen menial work for a living, making a joke about those who went to universities but can’t make a living out of the degree.
Dressing in formal gear every morning to work has become unfashionable as young boys in ripped Jeans and tight-fitting-fitting t-shirts are driving the most expensive cars and filling all the restaurants and clubs every night, spending bundles of United States dollars.
In a kombi in the morning, I was surprised to hear a young man say he had abandoned his professional career in order to sell airtime since he graduated in August this year.
Getting ZWL300 cash every day is way better than a pharmacy assistant who gets an electronic salary of ZWL1 500, hence he rather turn to vending.
As the year draws to an end, it’s time for President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his Cabinet, especially Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, reflect on the work they did in 2019.
