[This is supposedly what the Blacks wanted. They did not like progress when Whites were around so now they are aspiring to become Neaderthals! This, apparently, is PROGRESS – according to Black African logic. Jan]

By Susan Njanji

Harare – Zimbabweans are reeling under a serious shortage of basic commodities, compounded by erratic power supplies, following the March 31 parliamentary elections, and experts partially blame this on dwindling foreign exchange reserves and a poor harvest.

Long power outages have become the order of the day in the capital Harare, affecting business operations, while for those at home, candles have disappeared from shop shelves as demand outstrips supply.

Zimbabwe imports electricity from South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and this week, the power utility blamed the shortages on transmission faults.

Milk and butter supplies are erratic
The national staple cornmeal is snapped up within hours if available, while margarine and even toothpaste have run out in shops.

Milk and butter supplies are erratic.

Queues for fuel are common as some gas stations run dry for days in the post-election period. The shortage of fuel has partly been blamed for non-collection of refuse in Harare.

Water cuts running for days in parts of the country are becoming normal.

Captains of industry and trade union leaders say the shortages were anticipated.

‘It’s a war against the people’s minds’
“The shortages should not be a surprise to anybody, we know the challenges we are facing – the biggest one being the shortage of forex. We are not generating enough forex, some of the raw materials obviously have to be imported,” said Pattison Sithole, president of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI).

“Some of the raw materials are obtained locally, such as maize, but we have had a poor agricultural season,” said Sithole in an interview with AFP.

“What we are seeing now is a culmination of the backlog that has been building over the months in terms of raw materials, this is just crunch time,” said Sithole.

The country’s main labour movement blames government for the economic woes.

“We have been harping on the fact that the idea by government to pretend that the situation was normal, was actually treacherous. It’s a war against the people’s minds, playing football with people’s brains,” said Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary general Wellington Chibebe.

Observers say shortages have partly been due to controlled prices of basic commodities which producers say are not viable.

Some goods are however available on the black market where they fetch much more.

The government has meanwhile promised to review state-imposed price controls on essential goods.

“In the next two weeks, the shortage of goods will be behind us,” said colonel Christian Katsande, secretary in the trade ministry in the state-owned Sunday Mail.

The government, aiming at a two digit inflation rate by year end from the current 123,7 percent, is battling to keep a lid on the prices of basic commodities.

Zimbabwe’s economy has been on downward spiral in the last five years, characterised by runaway inflation and perennial shortages of basic commodities.

President Robert Mugabe has meanwhile repeatedly denied charges that he was leading the once-model economy to ruin by blaming the economic crisis on sanctions imposed on him and his close associates by the European Union and other Western nations. –
Sapa-AFP

Source: Independent Online (IOL)
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click…/p>