THERE is a wide array of “wonder” pills, herbs (off the shelf), which are being sold in Harare, ostensibly targeted at women, who want to restrain their men from wandering away or to keep themselves attractive.
BY PHYLLIS MBANJE
Many of the customers appear not worried that the products have not undergone clinical trials to confirm their efficacy.
They have also not been registered with the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ), which is the only body in the country that has the authority to verify the contents of medicines independently and the studies proving safety and efficacy.
The products are the new craze in town are in the form of dried fruit and pills, commonly known as “sweets”.
Those trading the herbs claim they have “supernatural” powers to enhance and literally “sweeten” bedroom antics, bring back lost lovers and “loosen” a stingy spouse’s wallet.
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A few years ago, South African women went into a frenzy over the “sweets” and media in that country went into overdrive about the phenomenon, with publications like the Sowetan reporting that the mysterious fruit or herb (origins were never established) was an instant hit with female clients, who professed amazing results.
This same fruit/herb has found a ready market in Zimbabwe, where it is being sold in some shops in the city centre, as well as in private residences, especially in the Avenues area.
Aggressive marketing is being employed to sell the product, whose price tag has made it a hit with women.
Ranging from $1 to $10 for the most expensive, the herbs are selling like hot cakes.
One of the fliers claims that if one tries the products, they will “enjoy their marriage/love life”.
NewsDay Weekender visited one outlet selling the “sweets” in the city centre.
The shop looks just like any other selling clothes and cosmetics, but then there is another connecting door and behind it, the sweets market is in full swing.
It is a dingy small room with little lighting. There is a couch for customers and a medium-sized table.
A pleasant-looking young woman sits behind a table laden with containers.
On top and in full display are some of the “sweets” in the form of pills, dried fruit and oils.
All have specific names and uses.
The woman calmly explains how each of the sweets works.
She lets on that the one called chinamira (loosely translated to mean that which sticks permanently) is most popular with her female clients.
This brand, she claims, “marinates daddy”, such that he will not cast a glance at another woman.
It costs $2, making it a hit.
It looks like a dried fruit, with a suspicious white coating.
It tastes like a peach and has a seed similar to a peach’s.
Then there are the equally popular pink pills that supposedly increase body temperature and “cleanse the system,” going at $2 for four.
There are also crystals, which allegedly revive waning sexual feelings.
On the packaging, there are inscriptions in a foreign language.
“The ‘Black Bomb’ causes fireworks in the bedroom. Those who have used it can testify to this,” says the woman, with a wink in her eye and adds that also available is “coffee powder” meant to enhance sexual feelings.
There are a variety of juices, love drops, “Follow Me”, that she says increases sexual libido.
These are a bit pricey though and cost around $10.
For women with collapsed wombs, there is a remedy in the form of amarula bark, which is said to tighten the loose bits.
“They can also use this sweet (which resembles a lollipop, minus the stick), which sorts out the ‘loose wombs’ caused by childbirth,” she explains.
Then there is thambomagetsi (live wire). These look like thin strips of a bark with a sweet sour taste.
“This one is for the cold-blooded. If you chew it, your body will be so hot,” says the woman, who also has a variety of male products, including herbal teas for cleansing and increasing virility.
This craze for sexual enhancers or body magnifying agents is not new in Zimbabwe.
Women fell all over each other a couple of years back for apettito pills, which were famed for “growing” hips.
However, when people started suffering strange deformities, many stopped, but vendors are still selling them alongside skin lightening creams like Movet, Diprizona, Epiderm and 7 Miracles, which also have their fair share of serious side effects.
An increasing number of men in Zimbabwe are also resorting to the use of banned male sexual enhancement drugs.
In 2013, MCAZ banned over-the-counter selling of sex-enhancing drugs because of their side effects.
Their distribution should now be accompanied by a medical doctor’s prescription, but some have taken the drugs to the streets, while others are selling them in the form of herbs.
The banned drugs include Super Powerful Man, Niagra, Wild Horse, M-Energex, Rock Hard Weekend, 21st Century Herbs for Forty Plus and Quarter Final.
Health fads, including the African potato, musimboti drink and Epikaizo have come and gone.
When Musimboti Nyama herbal drink took Zimbabwe by storm just after the turn of the millennium, it caused quite a stir and proponents of traditional alternative therapy went into overdrive.
They claimed that the “miracle” drug could cure cancer, HIV and Aids and a host of other chronic ailments.
There was a frenzied rush for the drink, which could be accessed from leading supermarkets.
The ailing and those who just wanted to prop up their immune systems gouged themselves on the golden-coloured concoction.
However, regulatory body MCAZ banned the drink and ordered that it be withdrawn from the shelves.
The regulatory body has always insisted that medicines or complementary medicines that are manufactured on a commercial scale for sale to the public must meet the standards of manufacture of any other medicine.
The Health ministry, together with MCAZ and City of Harare, have raised concerns, but over the years, it has proved almost difficult to eradicate the selling of banned drugs on the streets.