News / Local
Byo @ 120! - A celebration of 34 years of destruction
01 Aug 2014 at 18:28hrs | Views
Popular disk jockey turned politician, Ezra 'Tshisa' Sibanda, on Friday said there was no reason to celebrate Bulawayo's 120 years of existence "when the last 34 years has been a nightmare."
Sibanda said Bulawayo is known as "KoNtuthu ziya-thunqa" because of industries which for years also exuded smoke until the "mismanagement of the economy by a clueless government."
In a Facebook post Sibanda said:
Bulawayo turned 120 years last month and l believe there is no reason to celebrate. We should just mark the existence of this City of Kings which has been reduced to ruins by those in charge. There is nothing to be excited about the 120 years of Bulawayo existence when the last 34 years has been a nightmare for its children. Why should we celebrate this year when there has little to celebrate from once a thriving economic sector which has all but crumbled, once a cultural City but finds its history, customs and traditions diluted and distorted, once a clean and tidy City now reduced to a dirty and ghost City.
For some who don't know this City is known as KoNtuthu ziya–thunqa (Ndebele for "a place that continually exudes smoke"), Bulawayo was for years Zimbabwe's industrial hub and boasted a number of large manufacturing and engineering companies. These included the Tregers Group, Zimbabwe Engineering Company, Hubert Davies, Merlin Textiles, Stewarts & Lloyds, Build Elect, Dunlop, Hunyani Holdings and G&D Shoes, among others. But the smoke from Bulawayo's industries has died down over the years, thanks to the mismanagement of the economy by a clueless government. Just last month a leading clothing retailer Power Sales had closed 29 shops across the country in recent months due to the tough operating environment and other companies and businesses continue to close down on daily basis for same reasons.
Although the massive economic problems Zimbabwe is grappling with are not unique to Bulawayo, it is probably the country's hardest-hit city. It has seen countless company closures and downsizings. The sad thing is the so called indigenous business people rushed & thronged Blues to grab viable companies in Bulawayo using a wayward indigenisation and empowerment policy, thanks to their connection with the government. These heartless creatures milked and destroyed good companies for their selfish gains leading to thousands of people losing their jobs and companies forced to close down. You really question their agenda as to why some of them have relocated their businesses to Harare, leaving the once productive industrial areas of Belmont and Donnington bereft and people jobless. Up stepped the so called men of God, most of them the flamboyant fraudsters, grabbing those industries and companies to open churches, manipulating, abusing and seducing the desperate poor & vulnerable people to part with their little savings, believing God will change their situation when they pay money to pastors. Oh dear. God, please save our people from vultures.
One year after the disputed elections and false promises by those in charge nothing is changing for the better for the ordinary Zimbabweans. It's dog eat dog, survival of the fittest in Zimbabwe! The economic hardships are hitting people hard as evident by increase in suicide cases since people try to escape their problems, an alarming rate of divorce cases caused by money issues, a shocking increase in prostitution and a disturbing increase in robberies, mugging and murder as people try to earn a living skinning fellow human beings. It's getting tougher by each day and fiancé minister Chinamasa has admitted that they devalued the USD when they adopted the multi-currency regime. The issue of obscene salaries and allowances in the public sector in comparison with the unemployed and ordinary civil servants has been raised but nothing has been done to rectify the position. It's all talk by the out of sorts government with no action.
Back to Bulawayo, the City centre hides its decay with the resplendent purple blooms of jacaranda trees that line the spacious streets but can't hide the fact that people are suffering. Another damning fact is that local banks will give short-term loans at more than 20% interest but that this is too expensive and unsustainable for local businesses. The majority of companies that have survived in Bulawayo are those with external links, such as holding companies in other countries. The government as always has been singing its usual out of tune and poorly thought empowerment & indigenisation policy for years but has failed to support those businesses when banks pounce on them demanding their loan money. We have seen Bulawayo business people's properties getting auctioned week in week out as banks try to recover their money and the government is nowhere to help. How are you uplifting and promoting the small businesses when you don't support or help them pay back loans in these hostile economic conditions?
Finally the vitality and exuberance of its citizenry has long been sucked out by years of industrial decline, resulting in crippling unemployment and poverty for its residents. What can be done to to save the situation? This is high time for Zimbabweans from all walks of life out there in the diaspora and at home to come together, think big and create businesses. There are so many ways we can do it and as long as we are united, we can salvage our cities and towns. There is nothing this clueless government can do to change our situation, create employment and help the poor people of Zimbabwe. It will always be talk and talk, lies after lies while our families, relatives, friends and fellow Zimbabweans remain burning in hardships and poverty! Let's make a difference, let join and form businesses which can change our lives and that of our people for better!!!
Sibanda said Bulawayo is known as "KoNtuthu ziya-thunqa" because of industries which for years also exuded smoke until the "mismanagement of the economy by a clueless government."
In a Facebook post Sibanda said:
Bulawayo turned 120 years last month and l believe there is no reason to celebrate. We should just mark the existence of this City of Kings which has been reduced to ruins by those in charge. There is nothing to be excited about the 120 years of Bulawayo existence when the last 34 years has been a nightmare for its children. Why should we celebrate this year when there has little to celebrate from once a thriving economic sector which has all but crumbled, once a cultural City but finds its history, customs and traditions diluted and distorted, once a clean and tidy City now reduced to a dirty and ghost City.
For some who don't know this City is known as KoNtuthu ziya–thunqa (Ndebele for "a place that continually exudes smoke"), Bulawayo was for years Zimbabwe's industrial hub and boasted a number of large manufacturing and engineering companies. These included the Tregers Group, Zimbabwe Engineering Company, Hubert Davies, Merlin Textiles, Stewarts & Lloyds, Build Elect, Dunlop, Hunyani Holdings and G&D Shoes, among others. But the smoke from Bulawayo's industries has died down over the years, thanks to the mismanagement of the economy by a clueless government. Just last month a leading clothing retailer Power Sales had closed 29 shops across the country in recent months due to the tough operating environment and other companies and businesses continue to close down on daily basis for same reasons.
Although the massive economic problems Zimbabwe is grappling with are not unique to Bulawayo, it is probably the country's hardest-hit city. It has seen countless company closures and downsizings. The sad thing is the so called indigenous business people rushed & thronged Blues to grab viable companies in Bulawayo using a wayward indigenisation and empowerment policy, thanks to their connection with the government. These heartless creatures milked and destroyed good companies for their selfish gains leading to thousands of people losing their jobs and companies forced to close down. You really question their agenda as to why some of them have relocated their businesses to Harare, leaving the once productive industrial areas of Belmont and Donnington bereft and people jobless. Up stepped the so called men of God, most of them the flamboyant fraudsters, grabbing those industries and companies to open churches, manipulating, abusing and seducing the desperate poor & vulnerable people to part with their little savings, believing God will change their situation when they pay money to pastors. Oh dear. God, please save our people from vultures.
One year after the disputed elections and false promises by those in charge nothing is changing for the better for the ordinary Zimbabweans. It's dog eat dog, survival of the fittest in Zimbabwe! The economic hardships are hitting people hard as evident by increase in suicide cases since people try to escape their problems, an alarming rate of divorce cases caused by money issues, a shocking increase in prostitution and a disturbing increase in robberies, mugging and murder as people try to earn a living skinning fellow human beings. It's getting tougher by each day and fiancé minister Chinamasa has admitted that they devalued the USD when they adopted the multi-currency regime. The issue of obscene salaries and allowances in the public sector in comparison with the unemployed and ordinary civil servants has been raised but nothing has been done to rectify the position. It's all talk by the out of sorts government with no action.
Back to Bulawayo, the City centre hides its decay with the resplendent purple blooms of jacaranda trees that line the spacious streets but can't hide the fact that people are suffering. Another damning fact is that local banks will give short-term loans at more than 20% interest but that this is too expensive and unsustainable for local businesses. The majority of companies that have survived in Bulawayo are those with external links, such as holding companies in other countries. The government as always has been singing its usual out of tune and poorly thought empowerment & indigenisation policy for years but has failed to support those businesses when banks pounce on them demanding their loan money. We have seen Bulawayo business people's properties getting auctioned week in week out as banks try to recover their money and the government is nowhere to help. How are you uplifting and promoting the small businesses when you don't support or help them pay back loans in these hostile economic conditions?
Finally the vitality and exuberance of its citizenry has long been sucked out by years of industrial decline, resulting in crippling unemployment and poverty for its residents. What can be done to to save the situation? This is high time for Zimbabweans from all walks of life out there in the diaspora and at home to come together, think big and create businesses. There are so many ways we can do it and as long as we are united, we can salvage our cities and towns. There is nothing this clueless government can do to change our situation, create employment and help the poor people of Zimbabwe. It will always be talk and talk, lies after lies while our families, relatives, friends and fellow Zimbabweans remain burning in hardships and poverty! Let's make a difference, let join and form businesses which can change our lives and that of our people for better!!!
Source - Byo24News
