Chronicle Editor
Kudzai Chikiwa
“Mama, letha phela i50c ngikunike i-application form (Mother, just give me 50c and you get an application form). We came here at 4am and received these application forms. This is the last batch. It’s either you buy this or you will never get a chance to apply for a job,” enterprising youths shouted at the entrance of Egodini Mall contact centre.
Mrs Nomsa Ndlovu (48), stranded on planet joblessness for 15 years, had no option but to look for ways to grab the application form.
One way or the other, she had to quench her job thirst.
“Give me a copy and I’ll transfer $1 into your EcoCash account. Angila hard cash kodwa iapplication form ngiyalifuna mntanami (I don’t have hard cash with me but I desperately need this form),” she begged 21-year-old Mr Temba Moyo who was illegally selling application forms outside the contact centre gate.
Mr Moyo responded: “This is a matter of life and death masalu. If you don’t have hard cash, then don’t dream of getting this paper. That $1 EcoCash is nothing, maybe if you send $5 because hard cash is scarce.”
The young man’s response left her stunned and the hope of securing a job slowly became an illusion.
Mrs Ndlovu had a hard decision to make. She had to either buy the application form with the last coins she had and then walk back home to Pumula East or just ignore the application form and risk “not getting the job”.
As she was battling with her mind, a friend of hers came with more bad news.
“Don’t forget that kombis charge $1 in the evening, you better keep a $1 aside or else you will be stranded in town,” said Mrs Natasha Moyo.
Poor Mrs Ndlovu, holding 75 cents and a lunchbox of food, lowered her face in deep thought.
Kombi fare hikes, price hikes, cash crisis and joblessness struck her left, right and centre.
The widow looking after four school-going age children could not face this and poured out her bitter heart.
“Every corner of life is hurting. I came here to apply for a job and I thought I’d easily get the application form. I hear they’ve stopped issuing application forms. These boys are charging me $5 just for an application form. The kombi operators are charging $1 from the usual 50c. Prices in shops have skyrocketed,” she said in dismay.
The pains of being jobless and penniless are real.
Another voice is heard from the backyard of Egodini contact centre.
“Give me that form or else I’ll deal with you. Do you think you’re the only one who needs a job,” shouted a youthful man shoving around a 59-year-old man who was holding an application form.
“Are you not ashamed of robbing your own father? If you don’t have manners at least respect my age. Are you the only one who is unemployed koBulawayo?” an angry Mr Busisa Ncube shouted to the youth who was shoving him.
Those who failed to come to the contact centre early could not secure application papers with some attacking helpless people who had secured the application forms.
Mrs Ndlovu is one of the 8 000 desperate jobless Bulawayo residents who went crazy when they sniffed a chance of being employed by Terracotta, a civil engineering company contracted to construct Egodini Mall.
The sad news is that out of the 8 000, the contractor only needs close to 400 employees for the first phase of the project.
Some walked for more than 15km as they could not afford the $1 kombi fares to the contact centre. They had to spend the day on empty stomachs.
Some arrived late and found the distribution of forms halted because of the violence that had erupted.
No one wanted to be left out, from the graduates to the old folk who had never been to an interview or employed.
Could Terraccotta chase the 7 600 job seekers and remain with the lucky 400? How would this happen?
Unemployment has become a national headache and most people are living with the fear of remaining in abject poverty and underdevelopment as a result of joblessness.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines an unemployed person as “a person not working, who is currently available for work and is actively seeking work”.
Although unemployment has become the daily bread for Zimbabweans, it has of late increasingly become a bitter pill to swallow.
The situation is worsened by an unstable economy that has resulted in price hikes and a cash crisis.
Prices of basic commodities have shot up significantly over the past month as retailers responded to rising inflationary pressures, stemming from a depreciating local currency, foreign currency shortages and inadequate liquidity in the economy.
To the jobless community, panic buying is a strange phenomenon. Those who used to offer them piece jobs are also finding it hard to earn a decent living.
Prices increased by more than 200 percent making life difficult for the ordinary man.
Most have to brave empty pockets and stomachs on a daily basis.
Bulawayo residents pin their hope of employment on the Egodini Mall project but the number of people eyeing the jobs versus the number of people needed does not add up.
It still remains a million dollar question who will be the fortunate to get a job.
Terracotta won a tender to develop Egodini Mall, a project pegged at around $60 million which is expected to create employment and business opportunities for locals in Bulawayo.
“The turn-out has been overwhelming. Imagine around 8 000 people have thronged the contact centre to look for jobs. This is a sign that unemployment is real and people are desperate for jobs,” said Mr Thulani Moyo, the director for Terracotta.
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