In Zimbabwe, It's Crisis As Usual
Reason magazine|June 2020
A NEW ROUND OF HYPERINFLATION WAS TAKING A HEAVY TOLL ON DAILY LIFE, EVEN BEFORE THE CORONAVIRUS HIT.
REECY PONTIFF
In Zimbabwe, It's Crisis As Usual

“ZIMBABWEANS ARE HEARTBREAKERS, trust you me,” drawls Prince Matsika as he reworks a hand-strung necklace in front of his stall at an outdoor city market. People bustle by, but few even glance at the beaded trinkets and wooden crafts crowded onto tables and baskets. With rapidly rising inflation and food shortages across the country, now only the wealthy and foreign tourists can afford his wares.

“Even if [tourists] come, they would think our prices are ridiculous,” Matsika says. He’s selling a piece of his own design for $20, a king’s ransom for the developing world. “But we are trying to earn that little money,” he explains, even though “it doesn’t really have a serious value around here.”

It is January, and the coronavirus epidemic in China has just begun making headlines in the West. But Zimbabwe has been in a state of economic crisis since 2018, shortly after a coup d’état toppled the 37-year reign of dictator Robert Mugabe and installed his longtime political ally Emmerson Mnangagwa as president. Major factors in the sharp economic decline include government corruption, a horrific drought, and rampant inflation and cash shortages after the reintroduction of a Zimbabwean dollar (ZWL, colloquially called “bond”) following almost a decade under a multi-currency system.

In Matsika’s city of Bulawayo, the second-largest in Zimbabwe, hungry citizens helplessly watch the staggering devaluation of their wages, savings, and pensions. Even as the public education system raises school fees, teachers cannot afford to get to work. Recently, doctors in public hospitals reluctantly ended a four-month strike, even though their salaries are now worth just 10 percent of what they were promised and despite the lack of basics, including bandages.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM REASON MAGAZINEView all
Gimme Shelter  - The U.S. confronts a growing homelessness problem. Does Miami have the answer?
Reason magazine

Gimme Shelter - The U.S. confronts a growing homelessness problem. Does Miami have the answer?

The U.S. confronts a growing homelessness problem. Does Miami have the answer?

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
AI Is Coming for Hollywood's Jobs
Reason magazine

AI Is Coming for Hollywood's Jobs

But so is everyone else.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 2024
AI Can Do Paperwork Doctors Hate
Reason magazine

AI Can Do Paperwork Doctors Hate

With help from AI, doctors can focus on patients.

time-read
4 mins  |
June 2024
Antitrust May Smother the Power of AI
Reason magazine

Antitrust May Smother the Power of AI

Left alone, AI could actually help small firms compete with tech giants.

time-read
3 mins  |
June 2024
A Brief, Biased History of the Culture Wars
Reason magazine

A Brief, Biased History of the Culture Wars

THE FIRST PAR AGR APH of the book jacket lays it out: “There is a common belief that we live in unprecedented times, that people are too sensitive today, that nobody objected to the actions of actors, comedians, and filmmakers in the past.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024
FAMILIES NEED A VIBE SHIFT
Reason magazine

FAMILIES NEED A VIBE SHIFT

THE AUTHORS OF FOUR NEW BOOKSWITH 24 KIDS BETWEEN THEM-SAY THE AMERICAN FAMILY NEEDS A COURSE CORRECTION.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
"The Past Is There To Teach Us What Can Happen'
Reason magazine

"The Past Is There To Teach Us What Can Happen'

Hardcore History's Dan Carlin on hero worship and moral assumptions in the study of the past

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Cutting Off Israel
Reason magazine

Cutting Off Israel

ENDING U.S. AID WOULD GIVE WASHINGTON LESS LEVERAGE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THAT’S WHY IT’S WORTH DOING.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
WHAT CAUSED THE D.C.CRIME WAVE?
Reason magazine

WHAT CAUSED THE D.C.CRIME WAVE?

GOVERNMENT MISMANAGEMENT, NOT SENTENCING REFORM OR SPARSE SOCIAL SPENDING, DESERVES THE BLAME.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
States Turn Their Backs on Criminal Justice Reform
Reason magazine

States Turn Their Backs on Criminal Justice Reform

IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE to avoid the “strange bedfellows” cliché when reading about the criminal justice reform movement in the 2010s.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024