From todays issue of the Matabeleland newspaper
'The Mthwakazian';

Chikens, Goats Used As Bus Fare
Saturday, 27 December 2008
Rural bus operators plying the Bulawayo / Victoria Falls route are now accepting chickens or goats as bus fares for those passengers who cannot raise foreign currency to board buses.
Most rural transport operators are now charging passengers in foreign currency or fuel coupons. As a result rural commuters who cannot afford to raise foreign currency or the coupons are now using goats or chickens as bus fare payments.


"I boarded a bus to my rural home in Binga on the 20th of December and I was charged 100 rands...I did not have the money after spending all my money on Christmas day and I was forced to part with five chickens as bus fare back to Bulawayo. This deal is definitely unfair because five chickens are worth more than 100 rands but I had no choice," said Danniel Ncube who was caught by reporters embarking from a Binga bus.

Another passenger Jane Mlambo said she used a goat as bus fare to travel from Dete to Bulawayo on Christmas day.


'The three of us, my two cousins and myself paid a male goat over the Christmas holiday for a journey from Dete to Bulawayo. There was nothing we could have done because we wanted to attend our brother's funeral," she said.


A Sibula bus crew who spoke to reporters confirmed the development which is regarded as an ancient method of doing business.


"We do not force people to pay us goats or chickens. They come to us with offers and we accept because we know they cannot afford to raise foreign currency.' said one of the bus crew members. The crew said they sell the goats and chickens to recoup their expenses. (VOP)



Poor Zimbabwe!

You can't tax chickens. Bloody Bob will have to get his money elsewhere.

Wonder how far one can go on a donkey-ticket

Ganyana or David Hulme or Don Heath or any of the Zimbo guys,

Just for interest sake can you give us bot the official and blackmarket Zim $ to US $ exchange rate? Most of the currency exchange calculater web sites do not list Zimbabwe $ at all.

How would these translate to the original Z $ - the currency as was when Robert Mugabe took over the country?

In good hunting.

Andrew MCLaren

In good hunting

Andrew,
When Ian Smith (should be SIR Ian Smith) left the power, you got 2USD for ONE Rhodesian dollar...

husky,

Thanks. I remember those days. Problem is with old age [and not being so directly involved] I lost track of when and how many zeros were dropped to make the latest currency. My best recollection is, although some of my zero droppings my be in error, that on 1 November 2008 the "old Z $" echhange rate would have been 1 US $ buys Original Zim $ 5.67319E+13 and today it would be listed at 1 US $ buys Original Zim $ 2.04098E+17. Now that is a lot of notes, but "officially" worth only 1 US $! The current exchange rare listed at http://www.oanda.com is US $1.00 buys Zim $ 2040977 of the latest Zimbo dollars!

This represents a yearly inflation rate of 2 158 550 %!

Hang in there Zimbabwe boys, trade in chickens, goats, beer and whatever but please keep the hunting there legal and doable!

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew McLaren:
Ganyana or David Hulme or Don Heath or any of the Zimbo guys,

Just for interest sake can you give us bot the official and blackmarket Zim $ to US $ exchange rate? Most of the currency exchange calculater web sites do not list Zimbabwe $ at all.

How would these translate to the original Z $ - the currency as was when Robert Mugabe took over the country?

In good hunting.

Andrew MCLaren

In good hunting

Andrew,

I am sorry but I've lost track.... In any case, nobody uses this worthless paper anymore - if you don't have forex now you buy nothing, hence the thriving barter trade. When I was in Harare a couple months ago, I bought several master cartons of cigarettes and traded those for anything I needed! I think your calculations in the above post are pretty accurate....

Dave

Having to trade chickens for goods and services must be a fowl situation to be in and I wonder what happens if you don't have the eggxact change.

Sorry guys, only yolking!

Eishh, they get worse every day!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by shakari:
Having to trade chickens for goods and services must be a fowl situation to be in and I wonder what happens if you don't have the eggxact change.

Sorry guys, only yolking!

Eishh, they get worse every day! [/QUOTE


No my friend, you can't see it but they are actually getting better! This time I laughed out loud!

Jeez, things must be bad up there if my jokes are making you laugh!

Latest from the 'The Mthwakazian';

'Harare To Bulawayo Trip Costs A Whooping 300 Rands
PUBLIC transport operators and private motorists are charging R300 a person for a trip from Harare to the second capital Bulawayo as they take advantage of the shortage of transport.
Just before Christmas, a trip to Bulawayo cost R120 Rands or US$12 but on Sunday transporters were demanding R300 or US$30 for the about 440 kilometres journey.'

Reporters learnt that the transporters were no longer accepting the local currency as the regard it as worthless.

Local fares are also being charged in foreign currency, specifically Rands and US dollars. A trip to Mbare, Harare’s oldest suburb, costs US$1 or R10.

In rural areas villagers are reportedly offering livestock or grain as bus fare as the situation has been compounded by the acute shortage of local currency.

Bravo Husky!

Its times like these that you wished you looked like a prom queen with bad habbits will save you alot of money

quote:

Originally posted by 375 fanatic:
Its times like these that you wished you looked like a prom queen with bad habbits will save you alot of money

And think the place is over populated.

Can't help but pray for the early arrival of the day when the good and innocent people of Zimbabwe are delivered from their bondage, and the prodigious natural resources of their country put back to wise and efficient use.

I wonder if Buzz, Ganyana and the other PH's and the charter captains would accept some fine fowl for transport to camp? Tip them a spare cockerel for good service?

I raise some pretty expensive breeds.

quote:

Originally posted by husky:
A Sibula bus crew who spoke to reporters confirmed the development which is regarded as an ancient method of doing business.

What a novel idea that Barter system. Must be something new

Barter is a type of trade in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods and/or services, without the use of money. It can be bilateral or multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a very limited extent. Barter usually replaces money as the method of exchange in times of monetary crisis, when the currency is unstable and devalued by hyperinflation.

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew McLaren:
Ganyana or David Hulme or Don Heath or any of the Zimbo guys,

Just for interest sake can you give us bot the official and blackmarket Zim $ to US $ exchange rate? Most of the currency exchange calculater web sites do not list Zimbabwe $ at all.

How would these translate to the original Z $ - the currency as was when Robert Mugabe took over the country?

In good hunting.

Andrew MCLaren

In good hunting

If you go to this web site www.swradioafrica.com it gives you the exchange rate daily as of the 24 th it was 2 Billion Zim Dollars to 1 US dollar. There has been about 20 zero's dropped from the Zim dollar in the past year.The site is also good for keeping tabs on what is actually happening over there.