Journalists often come under fire—and deservedly so—for political partisanship, fabricating stories, and plagiarism. It is easy to forget that journalism has been, and for many still is, an honourable calling in support of the voiceless and oppressed. In that latter tradition, Peta Thornycroft has started blogging from Zimbabwe. She is truly risking her safety, if not her life. The mad dictator, President Robert Mugabe, has shut down newspapers, destroyed printing presses, and locked up, beaten, and/or deported scores of journalists.
Ms Thornycroft's first blog entry looks at one example of the daily absurdities caused by Zimbabwe's inflation. To call it rampant is a gross understatement: the annual inflation rate is estimated at between 600% and 1,000%. A small load of groceries, consisting of breakfast cereal, wine, beef steak, and sausage, cost Z$14 million–approximately £93—and the largest currency note available is only Z$20,000.
The till operator counted about 2,000 notes into piles of 100, rechecked and recounted. It took ages and people in check-out queues become fixated by counting rituals.
We can chuckle, but the inefficiencies caused by hyper-inflation only serve further to discourage productive economic activity. No wonder Zimbabwe has the world's fastest-shrinking economy.
Her second blog entry is more serious. Many are so desperate to escape Mugabe's hell on earth that they try to wade across the Limpopo River, one of Africa's major rivers, now in flood season and full of crocodiles. Even if they reach South Africa safely, those apprehended by authorities are repatriated. Still, it is estimated that over 1.5 million Zimbabweans have crossed to South Africa during the last six years. The ones who tried earlier this week were not so fortunate: eleven Zimbabweans drowned.
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