Beitbridge: On road towards Zim content

Beitbridge: On road towards Zim content

By Thupeyo Muleya in Beitbridge

Very few will remember when exactly this border town started using the South African Rand as its official currency.

There has always been cross border trading between its residents and their counterparts on the other side of the Limpopo.

Everything about this small border town reeks of South Africa, starting from the airwaves to the numerous dialects that are shared between these juxtaposed communities, a fact that has left many wondering where it actually belongs.

The nearest town to Beitbridge is Musina in South Africa’s Limpopo province that is located 12km south of the Limpopo River, which divides the two countries.

Long before the Zimbabwean Government adopted the multi-currency system in February 2009 at the instigation of the economic meltdown, people of this town had long been using the rand each time they crossed the great divide on business or social calls.

Even though the rest of Zimbabwe use multi currencies such as the US dollar, British Pound and Botswana Pula, here the rand rules as most of the people do their shopping on the other side of the river.

The two nearest towns in inland Zimbabwe are Masvingo and Gwanda, which are 288km to the north and 200km to the west respectively.

Beitbridge, a town dominated by the Venda-speaking people, was declared a district in the early 1970s and before then the town was located 30km west of its current position at a place known as Mtetengwe District, with most of its administration done in Gwanda.

Gwanda is now the provincial capital for Matabeleland South.

According to the 2002 population census, the town had a population of 22 387 and an estimated 2 570 houses in formal settlements (primarily for Government officials and mid-level private sector staff) and 3 000 in informal settlements.

Furthermore, the population started increasing following the construction of the Alfred Beit-Bridge in 1929 and the New Limpopo Bridge in 1995.

Beitbridge town is frequented by people from many countries, with at least 25 000 of them passing through it daily to various destinations.

Nearly 4 000 heavy trucks also utilise the border post every day.

This number has also increased due to the town’s proximity to South Africa and its commercial status as one of the busiest ports of entry in Sub Saharan Africa.

On numerous occasions before the introduction of the new currency regime, the police had been rounding up illegal foreign currency dealers in and around the border town whom the Government accused of fueling the parallel market.

An average of 50 suspects could be arrested and fined for contravening a section of the Exchange Control Act on a daily basis but this has failed to end the trade as they continue to thrive even under the multi currency system.

The majority of the working class here is now pinning their hopes on the government to adopt a single currency; especially the rand, which they say, would rescue them from the illegal forex dealers.

"Everything here is dominated by South Africa ranging from the food, clothes, electrical gadgets, cell phone networks, sport, radio and television reception. You will realise that most of the working people who earn their salaries in US dollars are hard hit by the cross rate system (conversion of currencies).

"Very few shops here are interested in doing transactions in any currency other than the Rand except for Government departments," Christopher Shoko of Dulibadzimu suburb said recently.

Most of the businesses here get their wares from South Africa and so insist on using the Rand on all transactions. The landlords are ripping their tenants off as they charge rentals of as much as R800 per room, which is the equivalent to a US$100.

"We are appealing to the Government to act on this matter to save us. An average worker earns below US$200 and that leaves most of them with nothing to spare after paying rentals. In most cases when people get sick they also prefer getting medical attention in Musina," he said.

Shoko added that it was also a common culture among the natives to seek employment in South Africa, where some of them had relatives stemming from time immemorial.

Communities on both sides of the Limpopo share common historical background especially the Venda, Sotho and Shangani speaking people.

This community has since its inception largely depended on South Africa for radio and television reception which has prompted the government to construct a transmitter in the border town to cater for those services.

Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu said recently while on a tour of the Beitbridge transmission station: "Our Constitution assures citizens of the right to impart and receive information.

"That right is realised through investments in media structures such as this transmitter. To deny a community this facility is to undermine a constitutional right.

"With that in mind, the Government of Zimbabwe saw it fit to release US$800 000 towards the construction of sites like this one.

"We anticipate the construction of such sites in all border areas, which should give us a near total coverage of our country in broadcast terms," he said.

The transmitter at Beitbridge covers a radius of 80km and at the moment the residents are only accessing two radios stations, that is Radio Zimbabwe and power FM with the television broadcasting expected to begin this August. There are plans to install smaller transmitters to cater for the whole district.

Home Affairs co-Minister Kembo Mohadi who is also a Member of the House of Assembly for Beitbridge East constituency has since hailed Minister Shamu’s commitment to see to it that all Zimbabweans had access to radio and television services.

"For the past 30 years different Ministers of Information promised to reverse the colonial imbalances, but they could not deliver. You are the only minister who has fulfilled his promise," he said.

The chairperson of the Beitbridge Business Association, Mr Roy Salatiel Muleya said the business community welcomed the new development and called on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation to put the border town on the map by way of increasing local content.

"We welcome the development, but we would be grateful if ZBC would initiate a project with local content that would market Beitbridge as an investment centre and promote local languages," he said.

It remains to be seen how this community will adapt to the Zimbabwean way of life.

tupeyo@operamail.com
Source; The Herald, 2 July 2010
www.herald.co.zw