Zimbabwe prints bigger bank notes

HARARE - Zimbabwe is introducing higher denominations of bank notes in a bid to tackle cash shortages fed by run-away inflation. With effect from today, 250,000, 500,000 and 750,000 Zim Dollar notes will come into circulation.

The Z$200,000 notes (worth about eight US dollars), introduced only last July, will cease to be legal tender from the end of the year.

Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono said in a live broadcast on state-run radio and television stations he hoped the new notes will mean “cash shortages will be a thing of the past”.
He apologised to Zimbabweans for their suffering and blamed the crisis on senior officials.
For the rest of this Sowetan Online article, go here.

NVDL: I thought it was game over in Zimbabwe ages ago, but it seems a country can continue to exist even if its arms, legs, weenie, and torso are chopped into chunks. If Mugabe is the brains, I wonder if the eyes and ears will be able to do anything once that part is down or deceased. The other thing is...is Zimbabwe a cautionary tale for South Africa, a glimpse at our future, or can we be pardonned for not making the comparison? Can a Zuma (or anyone else) conceivably do the same as Zuma has done to Zim? My guess is we ignore this possibility, as Africans, at our peril.

Apartheid 2

It's shocking that a lot of black people are describing the current government as 'worse than apartheid. The first time I saw these opinions I was inclined to dismiss them as fringy rants. Look at this shortlist of the same story, different black writer:

Just Like Apartheid (front page headline in the Sowetan today)
Deafening silence as Mbeki and Co reduce South Africa to a state of fear
Was the country run better under apartheid?

Now, the point isn't that Apartheid is 'better' or worse, the point is simply that government is SO infernally bad, that it's being compared unfavorably to an even more horrible government. The point is: the state of the nation politically is awful.

The question then becomes: what can we do about it? I suggest taking a leaf out of Bullard's book (by the way he told us it will be available on Wednesday for about R120). What can we do? Impeach the president.
(Read Bullard's article here.)
Call for change. Let the Bokke do their thing, but for everyone else the buck stops where it starts. All people in agreement say AYE...