Zimbabwe’s economic crisis has relegated its nationals into self imposed exile in neighbouring Sub Sahara nations, South Africa being the destiny of choice for desperate job seekers.
The economy has considerably ill performed in the last two decades, at the height of this malaise store shelves were empty, without even basic commodities. This meant that those left behind had to find means to acquire basic food stuffs from neighbouring countries.
With average capacity utilisation plummeting annually and still not sufficient to stimulate production to meet demands of a burgeoning population, hard hit by the ravaging El Nino drought. The situation is more pronounced this year.
Capacity utilisation has plummeted from 57,2% in 2011 to the current 34,3%, partly explaining the widespread company closures and the attendant massive job losses, leading to the exodus of Zimbabweans.
The effect of this on government revenues has been devastating with collections, including Pay-as-You-Earn revenue, on the down turn according to a first quarter report of 2016 by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) chairperson Willia Bonyongwe. US$692 million in income tax, up from US$578 million last year.
“This largely reflects the incapacity of most companies to pay, some of which may no longer be operational. In the short term, this tax head will remain under pressure and performance is not expected to improve all things remaining equal,” she said.
She said individual tax collected in the quarter amounted to US$167,43 million which fell short of the targeted US$196 million and a further reduction to the US$200,18 million collected during the same period last year.
Reserve Bank Governor Dr John Mangudya in announcing the impending introduction of bond notes, to stem the tide of externalisation of hard currency, says Zimbabwe has a trade deficit
He said the adverse impact of the above factors have continued to put pressure on the country’s balance of payments position.
“…The country has continuously experienced trade deficits, which have increased from moderate levels of around USD400 million during 2004-2006 to the unsustainable levels of USD2.5 billion between 2011 and 2015. The persistent trade deficits have continued to drain liquidity and/or cash from the country,” he said.
With this cash people have also crossed the boarders to purchase affordable non essential goods, mainly consumables and groceries, to feed their starving families.
Yet even as Zimbabweans cross the Limpopo for survival, those that partake of the journey cannot help but make a comparison the two nation’s road networks. On one hand is an expanse of intertwined undulating roads, linked by world class road signs, while on the other are narrow constrictions, punctuated by a plethora of potholes.
This paradox of proximity was underlined in the most tragic manner, as bus full of passengers from South Africa witnessed firsthand a devastating accident, which claimed 12 lives on the spot.
Zimbabwe Republic Police Spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed this accident by realising the names of the deceased, which has since increased to 16 as the injured died while admitted at Mutare Provincial Hospital.
The passengers, including this writer, were singing in praise for the safe travel on this perilous journey from Mzansi on June 3 at around 6 pm when they witnessed the tragic accident.
The accident involved a private vehicle and a public commuter omnibus at the 15 km peg along Mutare-Masvingo highway. According to eye witnesses private vehicle which was travelling from Mutare burst its left tyre and encroached into the opposite lane leading to the fatal crash.
What this crash underlined was the inferior road network that exposes drivers and passengers alike to the perils of road carnages, which in some instances could be avoided by a better road system.
While in this particular circumstance, the fault could have been reckless driving, without conjuring bad luck by talking ill of the dead- the commuter omnibus driver was as reckless as they come.
Whether he is responsible for the crash is a matter out of hand but suffice to say he had gained the notoriety of being a speeding merchant, preferred by daily commuting teachers living in Mutare urban and working in the rural district.
This is another matter underlined by this tragic national disaster. We have far too many reckless drivers operating public vehicles who are left at their own whims, costing lives of innocent souls.
According to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), human error accounts for the highest percentage of accidents causes, with festive season statistics placing it as high as 93%.
This underlines the complicit roles of vehicle operators, the police and licensing authorities, which can control the calibre of drivers manning public service vehicles.
Corruption, the scourge denying Zimbabweans in many sector accesses to critical national services while others benefit clandestinely, has also largely played a part in two main ways.
In the first instance unsuitable drivers are licensed by corrupt officials who demand bribes for easy facilitation of registration, despite the concomitant risks of incapable drivers.
Secondly due to the rampant corruption, police officials are no longer performing their jobs with due diligence, leading to negligence amongst drivers as well as an influx of unroad worthy vehicles into our national highways.
The matter of corrupt police officials is a cause of concern to all and sundry as it also meanders into issues of finances, particularly statutory funds charged by officers as fines.
The biggest question is where this money ends up, since there isn’t a consolidated revenue fund that house such national funds, it is therefore subject to abuse as an opposition politician claims.
According to Eddie Cross, Bulawayo based Movement for Democratic Change parliamentarian the lack of a consolidated revenue fund makes the accounting of such very difficult.
Daily public vehicle operators pay fines for various traffic offenses yet these funds are not budgeted for, with government only moving now to ensure these funds are monitored through a new act currently under formulation.
Suffice to say therefore that public transport operators here will continue to pay daily bribes to traffic cops usually stationed just before Zimunya Township, ironically close to where the accident occurred. This practice has been accepted as a norm by transport operators, who also use the loophole to let loose their unroad worthy vehicles.
