10 October 2008
opinion
Francistown — Human endurance versus human capacity. Hard times are nigh. A twinge of compassion is felt when men and women overcome insurmountable odds to take home a 12.5kg bag of mealie meal. Everyone tells the same story: the shops are dry where they come from.
New and old malls tell the history of the city, which stands at the intersection of the Gaborone, Nata, Kasane, Ramokgwebana, Bulawayo and Orapa roads.
This is the crossroads of Botswana's major international transport routes and a major junction for goods trafficking serving international needs.
The central area is on Blue Jacket Street, which stretches further than the eye can see. It is named after Blue Jacket Gold Mine that derived its name from the nickname of a Danish miner, Sam Anderson, who always wore a blue jacket.
Ironically, the foundations of the current economic boom were established before independence came to Zimbabwe when Rhodesian firms, threatened by economic sanctions, migrated southwards and turned Francistown into the economic hub of northern Botswana.
To the Zimbabwean customer, patronising the malls offers wide shopping choices where highly needed essentials are purchased in bulk for domestic consumption and commerce. With their country experiencing its worst economic woes ever, going home empty-handed is out of the question.
They come in multitudes, having travelled for hours driving their own jalopies, by bus, or on the train. "We come here every week to buy goods and resell on the flea market back home," says Ezra Manda, a young man from Masvingo.
He says most shops in Zimbabwe buy goods here and resell at higher prices back home, which many cannot afford.
Purchasing power is felt in the shops on Haskins Street. It is teeming with people, taxis and small utility trucks. Embayment adjacent to the roadway is abuzz with people and Dyna trucks heavily laden with goods. This has become a daily feature.
"Shops are almost empty back home," says a woman who gives her name as Nomsa. "We do not have a choice, but to come here and get what we need."
"We have relatives working here, in South Africa and overseas," says Mujiwa Savious from Harare. "They send us money to buy basic necessities. We sell these goods in Rand, Pula or in American Dollars. In Zimbabwe, people who work are very poor.
It is better to run a business. We use foreign currencies because everything is imported and our money has lost value."
According to the Commander of Francistown's Central Police Station, Assistant Superintendent Rebakgosi Setumo, there has been an upsurge in crime. Shoplifting and pick-pocketing are common in his station's Occurance Book.
"We cannot entirely blame the foreigners for all the criminal," Setumo explains. "Locals also commit crimes. Our shopping malls are crowded."
The roads cannot accommodate the density of traffic, which the Station Commander attributes to Zimbabwean shoppers.
Stewart Sylvester, a cobbler plying his trade behind Style - a young people's trendy outfitters - believes it is time a town planning policy was reviewed.
"From the beginning, town planning was bad and without vision," Sylvester says. "With the influx of foreigners swarming our shores, the town cannot cope. Here the road is one lane and at month end the situation gets worse."
"Business is very good, thanks to the Zimbabweans," says Tapiwa Meshack, a street vendor behind Beares furniture store. "I sell most of my stock in a day."
Karabo Wochi, a petrol attendant at Caltex Filling Station, says demand for fuel has risen dramatically. "Some park here for the whole night," Wochi says. "But if business has grown, so has crime. It's worse at month-end."
"They pay before we depart," says Chike, a woman from Borolong who drives a small truck. "Business used to be good before many people came into this trade. Some operators lie to woo passengers, promising to take them straight to their destinations whereas they only dump them at the border. Most prefer trucks driven by their fellow Zimbabweans because they speak the same language.
"We face stiff competition from the train and pickup trucks, but business is still good," says Alfred Mlotshwa, a combi driver on the Francistown-Ramokgwebana route. "We have a serious pirating problem. These people hang around the shops in their Dyna trucks, hence the congestion in the mall.
"Some abuse their permits. I want to know the difference between goods and luggage permits because the permits the pickup truck people use are not specific.
Our passengers carry massive luggage and we negotiate the charges because of the impact weight has on our vehicles."
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