Closure of industries

Bulawayo has been hard hit by marginalisation These are terms that are often hear. I really don’t know much about these terms but all l know is that Bulawayo is no longer the industrial hub for this country. And in His Excellency’s words Bulawayo is now an industrial “scrapyard”. Industries are closing down leaving the majority of people unemployed.

Where l live, only a handful of people have degrees or have attained education that enables them to have white collar jobs. The vast majority of people in my community work in these industries because they do not have educational qualifications that make them qualify for other jobs. In short, they do menial jobs.

The closure of industries has affected a lot of families and people. It is somewhat for this reason that crime is increasing in Bulawayo (I think). There has been an increase in stories in our tabloid newspapers which talk about people killing each other over a two rands or five rands, others kill each other over a plate of sadza. This is just how bad the situation is . I have often heard people laugh as they read these stories on our Ndebele tabloid publication “uMthunywa”, but all l have to say is, these things or stories are real and are reflective of the harsh economic conditions.

Bulawayo industrial site

People do not have money, some have to go on for days and days without food. Some people cannot afford to buy bread or food for their families, their children end up engaging in crime in order to fend for themselves and their families.

The older population has even relocated to the rural areas because they say the cost of living is lower there. They believe that its better there because they can grow their own food and depend on Aid from the government or Non Governmental Organisations.

About half the population that was previously employed in the industries is now unemployed. What happens to these people? How do they survive? How do they maintain their standards of living?

Bulawayo Council as a result of the closure of the industries is losing revenue which also impacts highly and negatively on the economy of the country in  general. This means that the economy worsens (i am no economist).

Going forward l hope that there will be capital injection into the industrial sector such that the majority of unemployed people will get employment and hope fully that will raise their standards of living.