The City of Harare (CoH) hit on a great way to save us rates bills by making money in another way. They rent out public spaces (our parks) to weddings. At $300 a time, it is cheap for the wedding party, and makes money for CoH.

However, it annoys the neighbours. Mainly the noise, at very high volumes, until the early morning hours. And then, the next renter is setting up very early (the same day) for the function they have rented it for that evening, which again goes into next morning. There were seven weddings in April 2011. Over four weekends. Which means the CoH was making good money, but the residents of the residential neighbourhood were not getting much rest on their weekends away from work.

Aside from the noise, the events are simply dangerous.

Parking is all conducted on the residential streets, verges, driveways, in the park on the grass and flowerbeds, even the street itself! I once observed the wedding party arriving, all in very high spirits right up to the moment the Mercedes did not stop as the 4WD pickup in front of her stopped and a loud crunching sound was heard with smashing glass. This is a residential neighbourhood – what if a residents child had been the one the Mercedes did not stop for?

The noise, both hooting in joy and rapture, and the PA system with the music. A wedding may be a once in a lifetime event for some lucky people. But if you live nearby, it happens seven times a month. And not just at times in the weekend, but for up to 24 hours of the day. A great party, but not everyone is happy for them, after a while.

In addition, while there is a function, or setting up for the function – the public, the residents of the area, the rates payers they are saving money for – are not allowed to use their park!

Toilet facilities? Who needs them? If there is no toilet available, just sneak off behind the bushes, plenty of them in a park! But when you are one of the one hundred and fifty people at the seventh wedding of the month, it rather smells behind every single bush. It smells in front of every bush for the month after. And sanitary?

So, the residents around Florence Chisholm Park got together. Or were mobilised, by one persistent resident. Meetings were held in the Park (from February 2011) with Staff Members of the Harare Gardens and correspondence was had with the Director of Public Safety. They heard and understood. They made promises (in April 2011). They would look at the rules. They would enforce the regulations. They would phone. They would stop taking bookings (but they were already completely booked up to the end of 2011 – 8 months in advance!). They would try to move them to Harare Central Gardens. Other residents complained. And held meetings. And were given promises. And the CoH staff went to observe the weddings.

And what happened? They parked in the street. The noise was too loud (and late). But, additional ablutions appeared (from one port-a-loo to six!).

And since January 2012 (a year later), there have been no weddings. It is now a residential neighbourhood again. And weddings are still being held, but elsewhere. So, residents can make a difference. Your voice can be heard. You can get what you want. It may take a long time, requires some persistence, and a volume of complaints, but results can be obtained.

I open the Mail and Guardian to see a report on Malaria, and the drugs to (not) treat it, that are counterfeit and being brought in and sold. Cheap drugs, sold at full price. Very clever. If you want to make a quick buck. Get rich.

But not so clever (or should I say, criminally murderous), for the people of Africa, where it seems Malaria is developing strains that are impervious to drugs, since they only get a little bit of the drug, enough to kill off the weaker strains, and make the other strains hardy and impervious to further, larger doses. “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger” – the Neitzsche quote used in the Conan the Barbarian movies. So, we have malaria that cannot be cured. More people dieing. Surely the donors are wondering, “what the fff…” “why do we give?”

And you’ve got to agree with them! Who are African’s worst enemies?

Lets start with the Atlantic slave trade (the one to Brazil, Jamaica, Cuba, USA, not the one to Saudi Arabia and India). Who did the buying? The americans (north and south) and caribeans. Who did the transporting? The Europeans. And who did the selling? The Africans.

I was going to say, “Short term gain, long term disaster”, but it seems many of the slaves who survived are doing much better (even in Brazil where there still seems to be a racial problem) than the people who sold them (and Nigeria produces how much oil?) Not too many trying to get back. Even Obama (who at least is an Afro-American) is in no hurry to settle in to Granddad’s place.

So maybe the short term gain long term disaster is a recent thing? For example, rhino horn. That vital ingredient for… no, I am not sure exactly what it does. Something like viagra, does the same sort of thing, I think. Not that I need anything in that part of my anatomy!

So, why the unsustainable harvest? Surely, if you have this very valuable commodity, you want to keep the livelihood going? Why kill them all? You cannot reap what you did not sow. It makes little sense, in the long term. But then, what do I know? If I was involved in the trade I would poison the horn and kill all my customers.

The Herald of 15 January talks of new licence disks. That cannot be forged. Apparently the country has “an estimated vehicle population of 800 000. However, of these, only 478 000 were licensed authentically”. So, why don’t the roads work? Because we will not pay to use them. Sorry, but who uses our roads? The Filipinos? Australians? No, Zimbabweans (that is to say, Africans). And who will pay to fix the roads? Not half of the Zimbabweans it would seem. So who are African’s worst enemies? Africans.

Maybe we are being taught by our leaders. Following their example. Politics in Zimbabwe (like the rest of Africa) is a job. How do you know if you are successful in your job? You make lots of money. On other continents, it may be quite similar, but they have people who know this, and areas of industry (the press) who know how to ‘regulate’ them. But here, if you are good at your job you make a lot of money. If you are a good politician, you make a lot of money. Civil servant be damned. Public office? Get real. Besides, no one is there to check you. So, you go into politics to make money. And make it now, quickly. Short term gain. Long term? You are going to lose power in the long term anyways.

Why do we put up with unaccountable leaders? We pay their salaries. They work for us. They are our servants. Why do we put up with fellow Africans as our worst enemies? They work for you. Have them report back (in person) and tell you what they have done.

I attended (as an observer since I am not a member) the Harare City Library AGM on Monday, 30 January 2012. Nice place, but in an interesting way, quite bizarre!

Founded in 1902 as the Queen Victoria Library, in 1982 it became the Harare City Library. Now in 2012, it has 3658 adult and 518 children members, about 25 000 books (I have under 4000) and it only runs because the Zimbabwe Open University rents rooms. ZOU provides about two thirds of it’s operating budget. Are there only 4000 people out of Harare’s one million who can read, or are they all, like me, in possession of sizeable personal libraries? Or do they simply not know the library exists?

It is owned by a trust. Two trustees are the Harare Mayor, and the Master of the High Court. It is run by a Management Committee. Six members are elected
(committee members, elected by the library members). Three Members are appointed by the Minister (Youth, Sport and Education). One by the City of Harare. Charles Nyatsuro – who was living and working as a gardener, and was the MDC Harare Central chairman, when I was elected to City Council. He is now elected from Ward 2, was appointed, but has never attended a Library meeting. And I know he can read because he borrowed, and never returned, several books of mine. About twenty five people came to the meeting. The outgoing chairman was Petina Gappah – the novelist.

When they took over, there was no outgoing committee. No accounts. Big debts. There had not been a grant from the City of Harare since 2006 (but plenty of bills). So they put together a strategic plan, and got accounts done (the Committee Treasurer was an accountant). Sixty nine percent of their revenue is from ZOU. Thirty one percent from membership fees. Of their bills, 81 percent went to salaries, and they actually have no librarian (as in qualified) on staff. The man in charge, ‘acting’ is not qualified! Of other bills, they owe $6000 in telephone bills, $13 000 to ZESA, and over $30 000 to the City. Annual income projected to be about $75 000 (of which about 80 percent will be staff running costs!)

They, traditionally run a lending library. To outlying suburb libraries, which are all owned by the City of Harare, not the trust that owns the Central Library. But some of them are shut, the rest are in trouble, and there is no facility (vehicle, fuel, qualifications.) to run the lending side anymore. The Hatfield Library is a building. And the Junior Chamber International (JCI) is attempting to get it up and running again (once they get the City to plough through the bureaucracy).

But it all begs the questions – Why do people read? Why do people join the library? Why do people use the library? What kind of people use the library, and for what?

On the other hand, do people no longer read? And I KNOW that is not true. Is everything we do now on computer? Through the internet? Again, I KNOW that is not true. Almost no Zimbabweans (relatively speaking) have access to computers or the internet. What are the figures, if you have those you are in the top one percent of the world’s population, a very small elite.

And who are these people that keep this very valuable resource on it’s feet. After being run down and neglected by previous regimes (no accounts, no librarian!) they have, at the very least, put it on it’s feet. While it cannot function in many ways, at the very least we (they!) now know what is wrong and can plan what to do.

These questions need to be answered. Until we know the answers to these questions, it is difficult to rehabilitate the place. Rehabilitate it for what? To what? A bit like the pool (MacDonald Park, see a previous blog). What am I doing this for? Now that I have done it (or been involved in the doing of it), I am very pleased it has happened. The people use it. Want it. But there was every danger that I was working towards nothing.

Similar thoughts with the library (although I am not involved). What are they doing it for? Are books a thing of the past? Do people just want internet access, and can it provide as much, the same, as easy, as good. information, learning, education, advancement as books can? Do they need to provide both?

The big question – what do Zimbabwean’s want? And how do we make them stand up and tell us what they want? Come on Zimbabwe. Find your voice. Not as individuals (even if that is the start point) but as a nation. Tell us how to get ahead. Tell us how to plan. Tell us what to plan for.

I went to a breakfast meeting on recycling a couple of weeks ago. Met a woman there, up from Bulawayo (working for the ZNCC I think).

She was amazed at the cosmetics freely on sale in the shops here in Harare. Hair straighteners, skin lighteners – those imported female beauty products. All banned under Zimbabwean law. All dangerous.

She remarked, if you tried to sell those openly in Bulawayo, the police would have you in jail in half an hour. But here in Harare! All sitting there, on the shelves. From opening to closing time.

So, got to wonder. Do the ZRP in Harare not know what Zimbabwe’s laws are? Or do the police in Harare (as opposed to the ZRP in Bulawayo) not actually enforce the laws of Zimbabwe? They are too busy enforcing the laws of the power. They do not handle legitimacy, they only deal with power. They do not care about health and safety in Harare, and legal implications, they only enforce the (outgoing) power of the city (which is no longer a power in Bulawayo).

I was biking up the road the other day and had to slow and detour. The City of Harare was painting white centre lines and lane markings, and traffic was discombobulated. While negotiating around this mess, I had time to think. Why is this new regime in the City painting road markings?

Well, the immediate answer is obvious, to guide traffic! But, the real question – why did the previous regimes not paint, and allow what was painted to deteriorate to invisiblity – and why can this new one now do it? The obvious answer (it is the answer to everything) …  Sanctions!

That knee jerk answer is a) a lie, b) a cover for total incompetence. On the second point I know, as we have succeeded in turning MacDonald Park Pool (Cambridge Road, Avondale) from a green pond where a Hammerkop fed on frogs, into the bestest public pool in Harare, that makes more on gate takings on a Saturday than it does to shut it and hold a wedding on the grounds! And how did we do it? No sanctions busting involved. The chlorine gas comes from the atmosphere (the air we breath) which does not respect borders. The labour came from the community, where we also borrowed a pump. The paint came from Astra (a local company). Etc. No sanctions busting involved!

On the second point, we know there have NEVER been sanctions against Zimbabwe. It is a lie, so often repeated that even the ruling party (that is, the new ruling one – with the majority of seats in Parliament, not the old ruling/losing party – that brought us democracy) talks about ‘removing sanctions’. It is easy to see which ‘ruling’ party has the better verbal gymnasts and brains.

So, back to the original topic – road paint and sanctions. Why is the new regime able to overcome sanctions and paint road markings, while the previous regime was only able to… well, did they do anything?

The new regime at least tries to give the people some of what they want – while the real agenda is to take power, now that they have legitimacy. The old regime has only one agenda, hold on to power, now that they have lost legitimacy.

At the MPOI event on Thursday, 24 Nov 2011. Four speakers on “2011 in Retrospect And A Prognosis For 2012”. Lots of interesting stuff, and they all droned on and on as they will do!

But what got me sitting upright was the Zanu PF speaker – Goodson Nguni. He did not speak as a Zanu PF spokesman, but as a staunch Zanu PFer. And what he said held my interest.

“We love democracy, but we love Zimbabwe more than we love democracy.”

Now what does this mean? He explained, and I understood, that democracy is all well and good but Zanu PF intends to retain a grip on Zimbabwe even if democracy – that is, the will of the people (of Zimbabwe) – tells them to let go. So democracy cannot unseat them. They will retain power … just because. They believe they know what Zimbabwe wants better than Zimbabweans. They believe they know what is better for Zimbabwe than Zimbabweans do. They believe they own Zimbabwe. They believe Zimbabwe is them.

Which basically means they are not democrats. They do not believe in democracy.

All the people who died for the right to vote were actually dying to put Zanu PF in power. Not for democracy.

He further stated “the war vets did not fight for elections, they fought for the end of Rhodesia.”

So, help me. Is my understanding of what he said correct?

And is this not what Gbagbo is being tried in The Hague for a this time? He lost the elections, and instead of stepping down (bowing to democracy), he unleashed a wave of violence, which resulted in many people being killed.

He loved Cote D’Ivoire more than he loved democracy.