Wie dink jy, Gloudina, betaal vir die "gratis" elektrisiteit wat Zim van
SA kry?
Zim battling the impossible
Harare - Pensioners buy a single egg when they shop. School numbers are
falling because parents can't afford to feed their children, let alone
educate them.
One desperate man who couldn't make ends meet chose to pay with his life.
Runaway prices are changing, perhaps for generations, the way people
live and die in Zimbabwe, a once relatively prosperous nation now
ravaged by the world's highest inflation rate.
Economists and international donors say mismanagement by President
Robert Mugabe's authoritarian regime - especially economic disruption
related to his controversial policy of seizing white-owned farms - is
behind an annual inflation rate now close to 400%.
The government points the finger elsewhere, at culprits including
falling commodity prices.
What's beyond dispute is that the human cost continues to rise.
Zimbabwe once boasted one of the best education systems in Africa.
But enrolment is down 30% since 2000, according to the United Nations
Children's Fund, because parents are struggling just to feed their
children, increasing numbers of whom are forced to work, beg or turn to
prostitution.
'Zero, zero, one diet'
Mildred Chizema, a secretary, said she and her two children live on what
she calls the "zero, zero, one diet" - no breakfast, no lunch, just one
evening meal. She dreads staying home on weekends.
She earns the equivalent of about R445 a month. The consumer council of
Zimbabwe estimates an average family of four needs at least double that
to provide for an adequate diet, basic shelter, clothing and food.
Salaries and pensions are being left behind by galloping prices.
Zimbabwe's official inflation rate was 394.6% in June. That's down from
a peak of 600% earlier this year, but remains the highest in the world,
with Turkey a distant second at 60%, said Harare economist John Robertson.
Crippled Zimbabwe's agricultural sector
The economy began to falter in the late 1990s and has teetered near
collapse since 2000, when political violence and often-violent farm
seizures disrupted agriculture and tourism.
The land seizures, coupled with erratic rains, have crippled Zimbabwe's
agricultural sector, which once accounted for a third of its
foreign-currency earnings. Unemployment is estimated at 70%.
The government blames declines in commodity prices, corruption in the
private sector and negative reporting by the international media, which,
it says, has led to the destruction of tourism.
But analysts predict things will get worse unless the government can
reduce spending and reassure spooked investors.
Bride price, a custom in traditional African marriages, has soared to
millions of Zimbabwe dollars in cash and gifts.
A driver with a Harare legal firm paid Zim$1 000 to his bride's parents
soon after independence from Britain in 1980 - a considerable sum then.
"She gets angry when I say today she is worth only four slices of
bread," he said.
Het iemand hier al die prent gaan kyk?
'n Baie goeie prent wat mens ook laat dink - en net weer bevestig dat om te
vergewe nie net van een kant kan kom nie.
Wat my egter dronkslaan is dat Passion of Christ, ten spyte daarvan dat dit
volgens kritici cinematografies nie 'n goeie prent is nie, mense daarna laat
stroom het, en die prent passievolaangeval en verdedig het, maar bg prent,
wat gaan oor die werklike, menslike kwessie van vergifnis, word bykans
ge-ignoreer.
Hoekom?
--
Groetnis
Annette
In die nuutste Travel + Leisure tydskrif wat nou net uit is, noem hulle die
wêreld se top 100 beste hotelle, en onder die top 100 hotelle in die wêreld
het Suid-Afrika nie minder as 10 nie.
Volgens hulle is die beste hotel in die wêreld die Singita Private
Wildreservaat in Sabi Sands. Nr. 4 is Londolozi in Mpumalanga, nr. 5 is
Bushmans Kloof in Clanwilliam, nr. 7 is Mala Mala, nr. 8 is Phinda Private
Wildreservaat in Kwa Zulu, nr. 13 is Cape Grace in Kaapstad, nr. 46 is Sabi
Sabi, nr. 49 is Table Bay in Kaapstad, nr. 50 is Grande Roche hotel in die
Paarl, nr. 61 ia Grace in Rosebank Johannesburg, en nommer 74 is The
Plettenburg. Niks vermelding van die Mount Nelson nie.
In die wêreld! Dit sluit al die grend hotelle in Hawaii, Amerika, Asië en
Europa in.
Die een wat my verbaas is in Clanwilliam.
Kaapstad is die 5de beste destinasie wereldwyd (Sydney is nr. 1, en Rome is
nr. 2). Kaapstad is die top stad in Afrika en die Midde Ooste.
Ongelukkig het SAA nie die top 10 beste lugrederye gemaak nie, soos
gewoonlik is Singapoer Airlines weer nommer 1, met Cathay Pacific nr. 2.
Gebruik julle nog dié uitdrukking in Zuid Afrika? Toe ek 'n tiener was,
omstreeks 1907, was dit 'n gewilde gesegde in die platteland van Tzaneen. Hoe
word dit deesdae gebuik?
Die program word uitgesaai op RSG op Dinsdagaande na 9 en glo op Sondae ook.
Ek kon dit nog nie hoor nie, maar sou groog wou. Iemand dit al gehoor?
--
Groetnis
Annette
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