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The Role of Osiphatheleni

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The closure of official Bureau de Changes gave rise to Osiphatheleni in the city of Bulawayo. They got their name from the fact that they stand along the street and say Usiphatheleni (what have you brought us) Bhudhi, Sisi, Mama or Baba. Or they used to. Now they say, “cross rate” (US$ to Rand, Pula to Rand and so on).

It was a few individuals to begin with and as inflation rose and the loss of value to the Zimbabwean dollar gathered momentum until it was like a runaway train, the streets were invaded by women in white dresses. Some belonging to the religious sect postoli and some just deciding to make white the uniform of the trade. Everyone wanted a piece of the get-rich-overnight cake.

The Zimbabwean dollar was suspended and the rug was pulled from under the feet of many. Drumsticks of fried chicken were literally snatched from the mouths of obese woman. At the height of the Zimbabwean economic crisis Osiphatheleni kept fast food outlets in business because they could afford the ridiculously priced chicken pieces and Russian sausages. A lot of the former Osiphatheleni had to stoop to selling feet and heads imported from South Africa.

I have since noticed that Osiphatheleni are slowly trickling back onto the street and a lot of people hate the sight of them. A lot of people have a bone or two to chew with Osiphatheleni because they believe inflation was fueled by them. The exchange rate between the US$ and the Rand recently changed from 1:10 to 1:9 and there are a lot of conspiracy theories revolving around Osiphatheleni. One day I had to explain to a group of very irate women that Osiphatheleni adhere to international exchange rates.

Recently I had a chance to witness first hand the important role played by Osiphatheleni in the absence of an official Bureau de Change. I went into a supermarket to buy some groceries. I had some Botswana Pulas on me and I was told that the exchange rate they were using was 1 Pula : 1 Rand. I promptly went to Osiphatheleni and got R120 for every P100 I had.

And watching the till almost crying as the operator battled with the cross rates between various currencies; I was even more convinced that Osiphatheleni had an important role to play in our multi-currency economy.

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