TRACY Sibanda, a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) presenter, broke down in tears on Thursday morning as she was interviewing a minister of religion on job losses.
So touching was the picture of this confident, bubbly and cheerful woman who also left some viewers in tears as she asked whether God really loved Zimbabwe given the current economic crisis the nation was facing.
Over 20 000 workers lost their jobs countrywide recently following a Supreme Court ruling that declared that an employer can terminate an employee’s contract on three months’ notice.
This landmark ruling also saw many journalists from both private and State media lose their jobs with ZBC offloading nearly 300.
These job losses have no doubt created a situation that is of unimaginable magnitude.
This reminds me about what happened a few years ago when ZBC fired around 500 workers who were left helpless and with no other job that they knew other than broadcasting.
Some died from depression, others suffered strokes whilst the rest walloped in misery and suffering.
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I remember talking to a former ZBC Mbare studios presenter, the late Pina Mwemba, who expressed how disappointed she was at the manner she had been fired. She, together with many of her colleagues, was left in the cold with absolutely nothing to look forward to.
These are people who made ZBC tick because they were professionally trained and delivered inspiring programmes that kept listeners hooked onto radio and television.
The journalism sector is a very small industry where most people know each other.
It is a profession one does not earn hefty salaries because it is a career that is passion-driven.
Most of these news people do not own houses and it is everybody’s wonder as to how all these fired people will survive in an economy that has been on a downward spiral since 2000.
I personally cannot understand how Zimbabwe has descended into such chaos and yet this was a country that was once marvelled at by the whole of Africa. Zimbabweans anywhere around the world are a paragon of hard work and an example of an educated people.
Our tertiary institutions have churned thousands of graduates who today are running economies of other countries after leaving a dying Zimbabwe.
The crisis that has been created by job losses will be felt by everyone because in one way or the other, we have relatives, friends or neighbours that are victims.
For those still in jobs, uncertainty hangs around us because we do not know how long we will last in our employment.
Such is the emotional stress that everyone is undergoing at the moment because the future looks bleak with no immediate relief in sight.
Factories and industries have been closing at an accelerated speed while government continues to make decisions that leave the ordinary person worse off.
Not so long ago, houses were demolished as council alleged they were built on undesignated land.
And yet these councils are responsible for approving these structures whose owners actually paid rates and other utilities.
Those that had become unemployed resorted to vending, but we all know what has happened to vendors that had scattered around the city.
The councils that are expecting revenue to buy water chemicals from rates paid by these vendors are the ones that have kicked them off the streets.
In Harare, council has reportedly embarked on a water disconnection blitz on defaulting residents and yet it is a fact that people cannot afford to pay for this water service because employers are failing to pay workers.
When water is disconnected, waterborne diseases will manifest and yet Zimbabwe is also faced with a serious crisis in as far as health delivery is concerned.
Whatever decision councils, government and the Supreme Court have reached it, has resulted in more suffering for the ordinary person.
I can understand why Sibanda broke down in front of viewers because she must have seen colleagues wail as they were told to leave work.
How do you explain to a little child that there will be no food and schooling for the next three months?
Should people become vendors who will buy the stuff on sale?
And where will these sacked journalists find openings to do freelance work since the existing ones were competing for the little space around?
Are we going to start fleeing Zimbabwe to neighbouring countries as refugees?
I think Zimbabwe has reached the peak of its economic problems and it is imperative that Zimbabwe’s educated leadership swallows its pride and declare that it has failed its people.
There were promises about creation of two million jobs after elections recently, but where are the jobs?
This crisis has created many other problems for banks that had lent these workers money through mortgages and personal loans.
What of the retail outlets that offer furniture, clothes and food on hire purchase?
Effects of unemployment are social, too, not just economic.
Frequently, crime rates rise as people are unable to meet their needs through work. Divorce rates often rise because people cannot solve their financial problems. The rate of homelessness rises, as do the incidence of mental and physical illness.
Homes are foreclosed upon or abandoned, and neighbourhoods deteriorate as a result.
The ability of government to provide for people is also seriously compromised.
When there is high unemployment, people pay less in income tax and also pay less in sales tax because they purchase fewer goods and services.
This leads to less in the way of public services, which includes everything from police and fire protection to the staffing of councils and rubbish removal.
As you can see, unemployment is not a good thing for anyone, and even the people who remain employed will suffer as a result.
And indeed this is why Sibanda wept. She knows too well what impact this will have on her as an individual.
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