Pensioners hurt by record inflation

As the official inflation rate hits a record 620 percent, all Zimbabweans are feeling the pinch, but it is the country's pensioners that are especially hard-pressed. "Ten years ago pensioners lived relatively comfortably on the money they were receiving. But the situation now is pathetic. The pittance they get can hardly see them through a day, what with the ever-increasing price of basic commodities and the attendant shortages," economist John Robertson told IRIN. The government-run Central Statistical Office (CSO) has calculated year-on-year inflation for November 2003 at an all-time high of 619.5 percent, a substantial leap from the previous month's 526 percent. But other economists warn that real inflation could be more than 1,000 percent, as the CSO does not take account of the fact that consumers access most of their commodities on the black market, where prices are far higher than the government's fixed rate. Most pensioners receive no more than Zim $15,000 (US $18 at the official rate) a month, with some getting as little as Zim $2,000 (US $2). But a standard loaf of bread costs Zim $3,000, while five-litres of cooking sell for Zim $12,000. The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe says a family of six needs at least Zim $400,000 (US $485) a month just for a basic food basket. "Some of these pensioners live in the rural areas and are supposed to travel to the cities to receive their money every month. However, due to high transport costs, the money they use on a single trip far outstrips what they receive, and it would not be surprising to discover that a significant number of them have since stopped collecting their money," said Robertson. For the past three years Zimbabweans have endured shortages, from foreign currency to food, to fuel and even bank notes. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has labelled the country as having the fastest shrinking economy in the world, with GDP having fallen by 40 percent since 1999. The Fund has criticised the government's policy choices, including its fast-track land redistribution programme, price controls and the maintenance of a fixed exchange rate. It recently began procedures for the country's expulsion over non-payment of arrears. Sixty-year-old Dickson Muchena told IRIN that since he retired as a primary school teacher a decade ago, he has been struggling to make ends meet. "It's a joke for anyone to suggest that I can live off my pension, which is only $5,000. When I retired, I managed to buy a house with my terminal payout. I also bought a small car, but I sold it three years ago in order to meet my medical expenses since I am suffering from hypertension. That money is of course now all gone and I am finding it very difficult to buy my drugs," he said. Three of his six children are married, but are poorly paid and find it difficult to offer much financial support. Two of his daughters are divorced and are now staying with him, together with his 55-year-old crippled wife. Between them, the two daughters have four children, three of whom are in primary school. "My daughters try to eke out a living by selling vegetables, but they hardly get anything from that since they face stiff competition from other vendors. I therefore have to do my best to help them and until two months ago, I was employed part-time as a proof reader by a media house. I decided to quit because of my advanced age and poor health," said Muchena. With the income from proof-reading, Muchena was able to pay his grandchildren's' school fees. With that extra money no longer available, the children might be forced to drop out, especially as school fees are to be hiked in January by an average 1,000 percent. Muchena has already sublet two rooms of his five-room house in order to cover some of the bills. His tenants pay him Zim $10,000 each month, which does not stretch very far at all, and his family live on just one meal a day. Maria Samson, a 50-year-old widow who retired from the Harare City Council a year ago, is still waiting for her pension payout. "My money is taking too long in coming and despite several visits to my former employer and NSSA [National Social Security Association] I have not made much progress. What worries me is that as the prices of rise everyday, that money will be useless when I start receiving it," she explained. But Samson is more fortunate than many others. Her two children now live in the United Kingdom, along with an estimated 500,000 other Zimbabweans who have fled the economic hardships, and occasionally they send her British pounds which she converts on the black market. "But I do not have to wait for my children to send me money. I am keeping poultry at my house, where I have also opened a tuck shop from where I sell a range of commodities ranging from salt through to second-hand clothes. Health permitting, I might also engage in cross-border trade," said Samson.