8 January 2009
column
President Mugabe has embarked upon his annual holiday, we are told. Or "retreat" as it is now called. Just when we thought there was no going back!
Vice-President Joseph Msika will be acting president.
Let's hope this means less of that noisy motorcade which guzzles up the nation's scarce fuel resources while abusing motorists who get in its way.
Muckraker has been told that the vehicles in the motorcade, headed by Zim 1, get filled up at the Reserve Bank, not the CMED. Gideon Gono, who is in charge of national forex procurement, makes sure our leaders are properly looked after. He doesn't stand there holding the fuel pipe himself but you can be sure he knows what each vehicle gets.
The problem is the source of this largesse is, like everything else, in sharp decline.
Zimplats, which provides the bank with hard currency, is a victim of the global downturn. The market for platinum is shrinking. New projects in Selous have been shelved as revenue dries up. This means less money for Gono.
But does it mean less for the president's motorcade, that advertisement for all that is extravagant and arrogant in our midst?
We seriously doubt it. Something will be found to keep those wheels turning even if Gono has to dig into his piggy bank. It just means less for everybody else.
Meanwhile, Muckraker is seeking confirmation of where young Bona is studying. We think it is Hong Kong which combines a British education with Chinese protection. But it could be a neighbouring state.
A Hong Kong education does not come cheap, we are told. And then there are the costs of accommodation and close security. It may mean another call on Gideon's pipeline!
We were intrigued by remarks made by Nathaniel Manheru in the Herald edition of December 27.
Firstly it was interesting to note that his elder brother's "inquisitive brood", who he describes as serving him "a few hard balls" (tough questions), are all living in the diaspora. Clearly Manheru's patriotic appeals cut no ice within his own family! And nor, it would seem, have they persuaded South Africa's new leadership that Zimbabwe is the victim of a Western conspiracy.
President Mugabe had been vindicated in his portrayal of the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai as a minor player in the regional scheme of things, we are told. The British are the real key to success, not their surrogates.
Manheru writes for a captive press, one that is not remotely a "public" entity despite its claims, and which conceals news it finds unpalatable.
So it may be useful for the public to know exactly what views the South African leadership have been expressing of late.
Firstly we had President Kgalema Motlanthe telling the press at Union Buildings on December 17 that he didn't believe Zimbabwe's far-fetched stories about the MDC engaging in terrorist training in Botswana.
"We do not believe that," he said. "We do not think there is any substance to the allegation. But of course the Zimbabwean authorities would cite an explosion at a police station and that kind of stuff to actually claim the government of Botswana could train the MDC cadres..."
So clearly Zimbabwe's official line doesn't extend beyond the Limpopo, whatever Manheru might think.
Then we had Jacob Zuma speaking recently on the subject of Zimbabwe. He said the situation here was "utterly untenable".
And in remarks to the ANC's national executive committee calculated to cause mortification in the ranks of Zimbabwe's sclerotic leadership, Zuma said in as much as he could no longer call defectors to the recently launched Congress of the People (Cope) "comrades", he could also not call Zimbabwe's ruling party and its leaders "comrades".
That was a hugely significant admission, given Zanu PF's claims to have persuaded the South Africans of the righteousness of their cause, but one the Herald swept under its copious carpet.
The NEC statement that followed Zuma's address was equally forthright.
"The reported cases of abductions and detentions without trial (in Zimbabwe) test the very fabric of the liberation we fought for in this region of Africa," it said.
Again, this went unreported in the official press despite the obvious fact it was of interest to Zimbabweans.
These few examples last month show the extent to which the state media is abusing its daily monopoly.
And have you noticed how contributors from Canada and Australia are dominating the commentary columns of the Herald? The government press seems to have run out of local contributors, although we can't wait to see what dividends the British Council's lavish sponsorship of Olly Maruma produces!
And what will it take to get Reason Wafawarova to step foot in this country? None of these ultra-patriots show any inclination to actually come home. Australia is much more comfortable. And you can say what you like about the government there without being abducted.
Meanwhile, South Africa's Sunday Times published an editorial on December 28 that might also be of interest to our readers. The pain South Africans went through in 2008 was nothing compared to what was, and still is, happening in neighbouring Zimbabwe, the editor wrote.
"The dictatorial habits of ageing despot Robert Mugabe have pushed that country to the edge of the precipice. Zimbabwe is a collapsed state.
"What pained us most is the role played by South Africa under the mediation of Mbeki. The irony is that while Mbeki sought to shape his presidency on the principle of African renewal, he did the opposite by ensuring that the Harare dictator clung to power through brute force."
It was also interesting to note George Charamba's claim that he could not comment on Nicholas Goche's meeting with Sydney Mufamadi in South Africa recently "as that was a party issue while I am a government spokesperson".
But that doesn't stop him styling himself as "Comrade" in the Herald and wearing ruling-party regalia at Zanu PF functions! So why has he suddenly decided to make a distinction between government and party? Who has said what?
Econet's "smart business partna-ship" is proving less than smart for the cellular company's customers.
On New Year's Eve, arguably the busiest day of the year in terms of cellular traffic as people send greetings to each other, Econet's system went offline for most of the day and then resurfaced as a US dollar business.
Some customers were informed of the changeover but many weren't.
Customers holding Business Partna access cards which they had bought for $50 million found they now contained just a few (US) cents, although it has to be said the conversion rate wasn't too bad.
Econet, which boasts it is "inspired to change your world", certainly changed many people's lives by creating havoc in the telecoms sector over the New Year. Many customers without US dollars were seriously disadvantaged by not being able to seek help from their companies, closed for the holiday.
"Scratching off the panel implies total acceptance of the Business Partna terms and conditions", the access cards say.
Surely, that applies as much to Econet as it does to the customer? Why could Econet not wait until the nation was back at work on Monday before depriving them of their means of communication? How user-friendly is that?
Their access cards state clearly "use before 31.12.2009".
By the way, subscribers on the 023 (Telecel) network are able to access other people's cellphones in the region and overseas, a service not available to 0912 (Econet) customers.
Do you recall all those puff pieces in the local press about Econet rolling-out new networks? A golden dawn beckoned for subscribers, we were led to believe.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
