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Zimbabwe diary: Friday - The haemorrhaging of a nation
The Economist
September 21, 2007

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9821376&pub=170907

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I AM back at the airport, waiting for my plane home. There is no electricity at the airport today, and only the computers at the check-in desks are powered by a generator.

It is the middle of the day, but Harare-s modern, swish airport is in semi darkness. All the drinks on offer are warm, and chocolate bars are melting. Worse, there is no water either, so toilets are clogged up and unusable. Electricity comes back before I take off, but water does not.

Zimbabwe-s power plants are struggling, unable to import coal or spare parts for lack of foreign exchange. Neighbouring countries are not getting paid on time by the local power company, and some of them are also facing tight power supply.

So what they send is not enough to meet Zimbabwe-s needs. Generators are an alternative, but they need diesel, which for most people is also hard to come by legally.

Water is becoming a serious issue. I hear that the situation is particularly severe in Bulawayo, the country-s second largest city, where fears of cholera are starting to surface.

Around Harare, water seems to run sometimes—mostly at night—and some people have installed containers in their backyards to store it. A few posh neighbourhoods enjoy uninterrupted supply, though.

Zimbabweans who used to be middle class have stumbled into poverty. But even with little water and electricity, they somehow manage to wear perfectly ironed shirts.

I have met many of them in Johannesburg, working as waiters. Zimbabwean nannies have also become very popular in South Africa.

President Robert Mugabe was once praised for spending much money and attention on the country-s education. It was the best in the region and produced armies of well-educated professionals. But the country is losing its people and its brains. An estimated 3m are said to have left already—although it is hard to know for sure—mostly to neighbouring South Africa.

Thousands cross the border legally every day, but many jump the fence and are trapped into illegality and exploitation. An association in Johannesburg has told me that there are over 10,000 Zimbabwean teachers in South Africa. Most of them are working as waiters, security guards or gardeners.

I buy a lukewarm Coke from a stand at the airport. The shopkeeper asks me where I live. Johannesburg, I say. "Can you give me a job?" he immediately asks. "I can do anything. What about gardening? Do you need a gardener?" I don-t unfortunately. He does not give up. "What about my sister?" he then asks. "She is an excellent secretary." I can only wish him good luck, which feels painfully inadequate.

Then I once again fly off to the comforts of South Africa, as always leaving with some regret, but with a great deal of relief.

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