IN 2000, Stanley Chirume, a primary school teacher from Budiriro township outside Harare, was earning Z$8000 (about R1333) a month. Today he earns Z$3.6-million â but that translates to only about R1200. With his old salary, he could afford to rent a three-bedroom house in the township at a monthly rental of Z$1200 (about R200). Then, minibus taxis charged Z$20 a trip from the township to the city. His three children were all in boarding school, where fees were Z$2500 for each of the yearâs three terms. He used to buy his three children new clothing for Christmas. But that all stopped in 2002 when the rising cost of living ate into his earnings. He used to take his family to his rural home twice a year, for Easter and Christmas â but not any more. Bus fares to his rural home in Zvishavane, about 450km south of Harare, now cost him Z$280000 a person. In 2000, the fare was Z$300. âItâs dramatic how life has changed for us in Zimbabwe. I have nothing to show for working, and if things continue at this rate, our children have no hope. âI had bought a stand for just Z$40000 in 1998 in Budiriro, hoping that one day I would be able to build a house for my family, but things took a twist when my net income continued to decrease. In the end I had no choice but to sell that stand in 2001 because I could no longer afford the high council rates for that piece of land. Things just suddenly changed and we had to move to a smaller house. Now we canât even afford to have a decent breakfast, let alone eat out, something I used to treat my family to once in a while,â Chirume said.
Today, with his salary in the millions of dollars, he has downgraded from the three-bedroom house he was renting, to one with only one bedroom. Half his salary goes on the monthly rental. The rest takes care of transport and his three childrenâs school fees, leaving very little for food. Boarding fees at a government school are about Z$6-million a term (about R2222). âMy wife is also a teacher, but still our combined salaries canât cater for our needs. After paying school fees for our three children, we are left with nothing because what remains goes towards transport for the five of us, leaving very little for food. Worse still, most basic foodstuffs are in short supply, forcing us to buy anything available, which in most cases is expensive. We are just barely surviving and you can imagine how it is for single parents. Things are real tough now,â said Chirume.