The rain is back again and with is comes the nightmare of increased traffic congestion in the CBD.  Whether traveling by public transport or by car, I am usually home by 5:30pm at the very latest, but last night I got home just before 7:30pm. I left work yesterday at 4:30pm as usual and rushed to catch a combi, so I could at least get home before the looming dark gray clouds that threatened heavy rains, burst.

Getting into town took longer than usual, and by the time I got to the rank to get my bus home, there was a huge crowd causing presha, and no combis in sight, as they were all stuck in the mammoth city-wide traffic jam. After getting thoroughly soaked and trampled by numerous stampedes of desperate commuters, and wading through the dirty water flowing through the streets, I gave up and called for back-up.

My uncle, who himself was driving through town, arrived nearly an hour after I had placed the call. By then I had given up on even shielding myself from the pelting rain and was walking calmly through the traffic, to where he too was stuck in traffic. I was so relieved to finally be in a car and on my way out of town, until we reached the intersection of Samora Machel and Leopold Takawira, and witnessed the hugest display of selfishness, chaos and mayhem I’ve seen in a while.

The picture above, which I took with my phone, depicts only a fraction of the sheer madness that prevailed for the hour or so we were stuck, motionless at this intersection, my wet clothes slowly drying on my body.

Despite the fully functional traffic lights motorists drove according their own selfish rules, proceeding bumper-to-bumper through red traffic lights in the scramble to get home, all the while, causing more congestion, until the traffic, that had once been moving at a snail pace ground to complete halt, and we were all well and truly stuck.

While in the gridlock, we discussed the poor planning of road networks and lack of adequate upgrades of existing infrastructure, and the need for an upgrade of the public transport system and how it seemed that these days, “everyone, and their mama” has a car, and yet the roads are not much different from what they were 10 years ago. Despite the good conversation, I was growing restless, and outside several people had gotten out of their cars and were shouting at just about anyone, in their impatience.

Out from the chaos stepped an ordinary seeming man, with an extraordinary plan to set us all free. After having assessed the varying situations, this natural leader began to hand out instructions to surprisingly compliant motorists and things began to move. More of these self-appointed traffic coordinators began working their magic through the web of confusion until, eventually, our car left the intersection.

I looked back at the madness we had just left, all the time wondering where the police were in all this?

Here’s a Kubatana subscriber’s response to Mugabe’s unacceptably large delegations when he travels overseas. Fighting talk, and fighting spirit – we need more Zimbabweans to speak out about the abuse of power.

It boggles my mind how Mugabe can travel with such a large delegation, surely there is no need for that.  How much is such a huge delegation costing the taxpayer for accommodation which must be the best, allowances, etc.  Ridiculous!!!  That money can be used to feed thousands of starving children and old people.

The trips to see the ‘eye specialist’ almost every other month is another waste of money.  We have very good eye specialists here so what is wrong with seeing one of them?

Why was his wife part of that delegation?  No, don’t answer that – SHOPPING!!!!   I’m glad she now knows what it feels like to have her visa application denied.  Also to threaten Switzerland is very childish on his part and shows how his mind works now.

My 11 year old daughter was denied a visa to visit my daughter in the UK (accompanied by me) on the grounds that she was going to look for employment there – did I threaten them although their claim was very stupid to say the least? NO!!!!

I look forward to next years elections.

Aluta Continua!!

Are you virgin? That’s none of my business, right? I mean, how dare I (or anyone for that matter), ask you that question! Well, some women are being asked that very question, by potential in-laws, by way of virginity testing. When I heard someone relate the story of what a certain woman, at the insistence of her soon-to-be fiancé’s parents, only for him to end up not marrying her (for other reasons), I was taken aback. Her virginity was a prerequisite for the marriage. Nothing was mentioned about any testing he had to undergo.

But one can understand the lure of virginal purity (especially when it comes to marriage); the idea that a woman is untouched and untainted by another, and has kept herself in this state, only for you, is a testament of the superior altitude of her morality. And being the man in possession of such freshness is beyond compare. She is the ultimate prize; the ultimate bride, and brings honour to her family, and therefore warrants an extra cow, come lobola time, called ‘chimhanda’.

Newlywed’s bed-sheets were inspected after their wedding night, as part of the marriage ceremonies of old, and bloodied sheets were celebrated as symbols of the bride’s purity. Virginity testing (checking for an intact hymen), in Zimbabwe’s history, has been seen as a way of preserving this purity in girls by preventing them from indulging in sexual activity before marriage and instilling in them, a sense of morality. I’ve heard of a Zambian girl living here in Zimbabwe who undergoes and passes regular virginity testing, who is by no means a ‘virgin’. She does EVERYTHING but… and such is essentially still a virgin, because her hymen is intact. A prospective suitor may take her to get her virginity tested, and be pleased with the results, but will he be getting the vision of purity and freshness earlier described?

“A virginity test is the practice and process of determining whether a female is a virgin – The test involves an inspection of the female’s hymen, on the assumption that her hymen can only be torn as a result of sexual testing.” Wikipedia.

The above-mentioned definition of the practice makes no mention of men. Should they not be “keeping it fresh” too, or is virginity among the many things that don’t apply to them? Boys are not expected to abstain from sex before marriage. In fact, their sexual exploits, (sometimes, including infidelity), are encouraged, or at the very least condoned. It is unfair that virginal brides-to-be can never hope for the same freshness from her partner.

What is this virginity anyway? In only focusing on the physical aspects of virginity we are missing the point. Does it not include the absence of any knowledge of sex and completely uninitiated innocence? I can assure all men out there, that there is no physical test for these qualities.

In this month’s Vanity Fair, the Proust Questionnaire interviews Desmond Tutu. Read his touching, thought provoking answers below:

The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu has recently celebrated his 80th birthday and the publication of a new biography, Tutu: The Authorised Portrait. Here, the Nobel laureate muses on rum-raisin ice cream, crybabies, and how he just loves to be loved.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
When we all live together in harmony as one family, in real interdependence; when all have enough to eat, have enough clean water to drink, have decent health care and we know war no more.

What is your greatest fear?
I fear we will destroy ourselves through our greed and our destruction of our environment.

Which historical figure do you identify with?
Jeremiah, the prophet.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I love to be loved.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
A disregard of others.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Rum-raisin ice cream.

Which living person do you most despise?
No one.

What is your greatest regret?
Not telling people they had done very well often enough.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My wife, Leah, and my mother.

When and where were you happiest?
On April 14, 1956, when our son Trevor, was born.

Which talent would you most like to have?
To be able to read music.

What is your current state of mind?
Joyful and serene.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Not wanting so much to be loved.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
It is collective: When we won our freedom.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A mother.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
As me.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Being treated as rubbish, as a nonperson.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Being a crybaby.

What do you most value in your friends?
That there is no humbug; they are themselves.

Who are your favourite writers?
Nadine Gordimer, Alan Paton.

Who is you favourite hero of fiction?
Sherlock Holmes.

Who are your heroes on real life?
Aung San Suu Kyi, H.H. the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, my mother, my wife.

How would you like to die?
Peacefully in bed, with my loved ones around me.

What is your motto?
“Everyone is precious, everyone matters.”

Source: Vanity Fair

Recently Zimbabwe has been experiencing a wave of high temperatures and many people have been questioning if the change in temperatures is an effect of global warming. The month of October saw temperatures soaring and has been recorded as the hottest month in a period of fifty years. This situation is not only being experienced in Zimbabwe only but also in neighbouring countries. Other parts of the world are even experiencing severe catastrophes like floods and drought – luckily here its just the heat.  What really caught my attention about this subject recently when I was reading an article in the Herald is the fact that the Meteorological Services Department director acknowledged the change in temperatures but played it down to just a passing phase with nothing to do with global warming. I am not a weather expect but the weatherman’s forecast leaves a lot of questions to be asked especially on the part that the high temperatures are extraordinary.  We are in summer and traditionally most areas in this country should have recorded their first rains but still the weather service department has not been giving satisfactory forecasts.  Maybe our weather department needs to put those little planes back in the skies and do cloud seeding. Its also a matter of looking at both sides because our Met office needs to move along with new advancements in technologies when they do their work.

The change in rainy season patterns and cold winters experienced this year clearly show that something is really happening to the weather. Though small in effect as compared to the gases produced from the first world countries this country has experienced its fair share of deforestation due to the unavailability of electricity from ZESA.

Those who are experiencing the real global warming also started by calling it a passing phase just like what our own weathermen are calling it. If global warming is affecting other countries what makes our official from Meteorological Services Department think that Zimbabwe is not going to be affected?