*Mob runs riot as Zimbabwe runs out of water*
Posted December 2nd, 2008 by legalizeliberty
output
Water supplies to residents in Harare were cut by the authorities yesterday as Zimbabwe’s cholera epidemic tightened its grip and the city witnessed its worst unrest for a decade.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority turned off the pumps in the capital after it ran out of purifying chemicals. With cholera cases soaring above 11,000 across the country, and an anthrax outbreak ravaging the the countryside, David Parirenyatwa, the Health Minister, urged Zimbabweans to stop shaking hands to avoid spreading disease.
Companies and government offices, especially those in high-rise buildings, were sending workers home by midday as lavatories became blocked. “My office stinks and the toilet is a disgusting site,” said Mary Sakupwene, a secretary. “I won’t go back until the water’s on again.”
The four-star Jameson Hotel stopped taking guests and other less exclusive ones closed. Restaurants provided buckets of water for hand-washing and flushing. There was a sharp increase in people turning up at the Harare Sports Club – served by boreholes – for their ablutions after their home taps ran dry. It notified members that from today they would be charged $US2 (£1.34) for a shower.
In Harare’s townships, some of which have been without water for two years, 20 litres of water from one of the thousands of backyard hand-dug wells can cost $1. All wells hold the danger of cholera. “What I am afraid of is now that the rainy season has come, the faeces lying in the bushes will be washed into shallow wells and contaminate the water,” said Mr Parirenyatwa.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) urged President Mugabe to accept international humanitarian help. “The country is reaching a catastrophic level, in terms of food, health delivery, education,” said Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader. “Everything seems to be collapsing around us.”
The seething anger felt by ordinary Zimbabweans exploded yesterday as hundreds of off-duty soldiers went on the rampage in the centre of Harare. Witnesses said that the violence erupted at a bus depot on the edge of the city centre where soldiers, frustrated at not being able to draw cash from banks, confronted illegal moneychang-ers. The dealers scattered and the soldiers turned on the city, followed by civilians spurring them on.
The mobs stoned cars and looted shops. In the panic, home-bound workers fled and traffic jammed as motorists tried to turn back from the scene.
It was the first serious public unrest since the riots over food price increases ten years ago. The disturbance brought a swift and brutal response from the authorities who swamped the area with heavily armed para-military police and troops. At least one man was shot.
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A smart person in Zimbabwe would sell their funny money on ebay
I'll bet you could sell a real note with a bunch of zeros for $5-$10.
How does US gov't treat Mugabe?
Is he another creepazoid installed by the CIA?
cant you just boil it?
to kill the bacteria?
At 50 British cents for Zim $245 quadrillion, I wonder how much
the firewood would cost.
_________________________________________
"An economy built on fiat money is a society on its way to ashes."
laughter.........and sadness all in one
the thing is within one/two years time we in North America will be most probably in "their shoes".............
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email from Zimbabwe
Sunday 30th, 10.00 hrs
Hi,
It has been a long time since my last letter.
Basically I have been waiting for these supposed leaders of ours to come up with something concrete in the talks they are having, ad infinitum, and we live in hope eternal for a result.
As I see it, the sod at the top has everything to gain by just sitting there, saying no to all ideas, and just hanging on. He fiddles, while the country burns!
I can see Morgan's point that he won the election and the first presidential run-off, why should he take second place? He has a majority in Parliament, which will make it impossible for the sod to rule, so we are in a real buggers muddle. Where else in the world would a person lose the vote, refuse to go, then demand that the rightful winner take second place? Only in Africa , and as the world has such a hang-up about criticizing a black man, our sod gets away with it!!
Mbeki should be shot, as he is so biased, against Morgan, and I see that Morgan now says he will not negotiate with Mbeki, so even more of a muddle. It is a pity that the Botswana and Zambian presidents are only small fry in the SADC hierarchy, as they have the right idea, about the sod, close the boarders and turn off fuel and electricity. That would finish him off!
Things are grim here at the moment. We are officially at 231 million % inflation, but in reality we are in the quadrillion % inflation, that is 1,000,000,000,000,000.00%. To a normal person like you, this is mind boggling, and I can't even begin to tell you what it is like, except that it is scary.
Now come the crunch: - Our "world respected and knowledgeable" governor of the reserve bank has, in his estimable wisdom, decreed that I, as an individual, can only draw out $500,000 (US$ 0 .25) in cash daily, and my company can draw out $1,000,000 (US$ 0.50) daily. A loaf of bread is around $1.5 m so it is an impossible situation.
No business or companies will take a cheque in payment for goods, as by the time it has been cashed, it has lost half its value. Some will take a cheque but multiply the face value by 9 and then accept the cheque!
So everyone wants either Zim cash or US$ (called yoosa) and as one can't get much of either, we have a problem. I asked for wages 3 weeks ago of $100 for a weeks work, and was given $30m which was useless. I re-applied for $500m and have been put on hold. How my workers will survive is anyone's guess! I see that some soldiers went on riot in Harare this week, demanding their money, and the Trade Unions have called on all people to go to their banks on Wednesday this coming week and demand their money. Should be an interesting week!
Even if one does get some cash, there is nothing to spend it on, the supermarket shelves are empty for anyone wanting to spend Zim cash. But on the other side of the aisle, if you have yoosa, you can buy anything you want, and there are large queues of party supporters with wads of yoosa buying everything on the shelves.
This is how it is done: If you own 1 Old Mutual Share it is worth 50 British cents, and you will get a dividend of 2.45c. or Zim $245 quadrillion at our lopsided exchange rate!
Now, if "you have a friend" in the Reserve Bank, you could then convert these Zim dollars $245 quadrillion at the OFFICIAL exchange rate (for party faithful) of 1 US = ZW$ 56 197.60 you can get US$ 8 060,928.00!!!!!!!! Now you know why our chief sod doesn't want to go, and his service chiefs don't want to go either, they are stealing so much money "legally" that they will hold on for dear life. Oh to be a Party chef!! The above was sent out by Old Mutual, and based on the exchange rate on 28th November.
Our zesa power is still a nightmare, and up until this week, for us, we had been getting 6 hours a day, from 23.00 to 05.00. Then we had the problem that when they turned us off at 05.00, there was nothing we could do about it, but when it came to turning us on at 11.00 nothing happened, and when I queried it, was told it was a fault! How can you have a fault when we were turned off? It then transpired that they just forgot to turn us on, so then we go for another 18 hours with no power until the turn on at 23.00. So that was 6 hrs in 48 hrs. And this has happened three times in 2 weeks!!
This week has been a dream. I think all my complaining has had an effect, we have had power 24 hrs a day for the whole week, whilst everyone else have had the normal cuts! Tomorrow will be interesting!
Enough for now, in case I get boring!
Eye-witness Account
Thanks for the eye-witness account, Paulette. It is a frightening picture. I hope your international connections make a big difference for you and your family. Those, such as yourself, who understand what is going on, are the only remaining hope for those who do not.
ac
liberty yields harmony; tyrany yields chaos
I have been following
I have been following Zimbabwe since before the elections. This is truly a sad state. I had hope when Morgan won the initial election (it took them weeks to rig the election to be that close) and reports were coming out that Mugabe was so embarrassed by the results he would not compete in a runoff. And here we are. Mbeki should be shot. Mugabe should be tried by the Hague. Tsvangarai should be at the helm moving the country towards freedom (if America can claim to have it, then why can't Zimbabwe). This is a look into the future. The army tuned loose on We The People, runaway inflation, food and water shortages. All you need is a Reserve bank.
Oh and a special thanks to Al Gore for refusing to let this country develop. Wouldn't want to flood the world now would we. All the best Al!
You mean the "Monetary Authorities" in Zimbabwe, who so
recently heaped praise on other central banks (The FED) for following Zimbabwe's inflation policy, have not really been able to restore stability to their monetary system and their economy? A quadrillion % inflation? Well, maybe they just need some time. Perhaps next week they'll be able to cut the inflation rate by a factor of ten. That'll make a big difference, eh? I wonder if that's an annual rate. :)
Did I understand the note correctly? 50 British cents will get you Zim $245 quadrillion? They must have either really wide notes or small printing on them. Sorry, the gallows humor was too tempting.
_________________________________________
"An economy built on fiat money is a society on its way to ashes."
Thanks for posting this
it gives a new perspective to all of this.
Hope it does not go that far in our world.But it could...
http://www.votenader.org/...
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"Illegal Moneychangers"
Yes, drive those evil-doers (who happen to have cash) out of town!
Bad, bad, moneychangers!
BTW, when did the article say the banks would have cash?
: b
HYPERINFLATION AT ITS
HYPERINFLATION AT ITS WORST!
"When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny."
-Thomas Jefferson
I am more concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money. --Mark Twain
Wow, that is
something. how sad.
Privatize the water supply
and let it be supplied and purified for profit and you wouldn't have this problem.
Who are you going to get to
Who are you going to get to purchase it when a lunch cost $6 Billion Zimbabewean Dollars?
http://www.1776solution.b...
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. Barry Goldwater
but wait,
but wait, wait.......collectivism works!!!.....................
that country is the best case
to prove that socialism does not work.
Mugabe a while ago froze prices for goods and the result was that almost all factories went bankrupt because they had to sell goods below cost of production...now they have to import almost everything...millions of people left the country...inflation runs in millions of % a year...
nice to see you NeoConned bumping my thread.
Have a Merry Christmas season.
*peace patriot*
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