BULAWAYO - The age-old tradition when Christmas brought palpable excitement among Zimbabweans is gradually losing its twinkle.
Tradition had it that this time of the year the second largest city of Bulawayo would go abuzz with the blue and white South African vehicle number plates.
Not anymore. Even for the returning Zimbabwean working in South Africa who had earned the nickname injiva for their spendthrift habits, the flashy life they were accustomed to seem to have lost its spark.
These are part of an estimated three million Zimbabweans who have sought economic refuge abroad with an estimated 400 000 of them in South Africa alone, the majority being comprising a majority from Matabeleland region.
These normally clutter the Beitbridge and Plumtree border posts as hordes of holidaymakers make their way back home temporarily for Christmas.
While they have turned Africa’s number one economy as their second home, injiva have never forgotten where they come from.
Perhaps, a sense of nostalgia and home-sickness drives them back home hence their influx at this time of the year.
This is probably the only conducive period where they can reunite and make merry with families, relatives and friends after a tough year.
Never mind how some of them have traditionally relied on illegally skipping the border to and from; never mind about the kind of life they lead in that country or the kind of work they do.
Instead think about what sages mean when they say home is best and there can only be one home.
At one point when the injiva were returning home, the rand which then had more value than our Zimbabwean dollar made them one envy of many; their exciting adventurous stories prompted a wave of unemployed youngsters to cross the border and pour into South Africa’s vibrant economy.
Seeing them speed past noisily (some in rented vehicles) with car radios blaring to attract attention, sent a signal of their presence.
Flaunting these temporary acquisitions became one of their trademarks.
But as the city streets are now clogged by vehicles mostly the grey imports from Japan, few turn their attention to injiva now.
Their power has been eroded by the fall of the South African currency against the US dollar now adopted locally as official tender.
Most of the injiva have engaged in a cat and mouse chase with the police due to their rowdy behaviour and flagrant flouting of traffic laws.
Their stubborn rudeness at drinking joints has been witnessed through imitation of the violent culture they have adopted from their sojourn where being macho equates to “talking tough and boorish”.
With the increase in volumes of traffic on our local roads, it has become so difficult to notice the injivas save for the malayitshas (couriers) who are conspicuous by their huge trailer loads from across the Limpopo.
Besides, it is the fall on the black market of the Rand against the United States dollar that we now use in the country that seems to have taken the sheen out of the once glamorous injiva.
Back then, for instance in 2007 and 2008 a hundred rand would convert into a lot of money in local currency.
This gave injiva an edge over rival suitors and made their life a little bit easier during their short stay back home.
The introduction of the multi-currency regime in 2009 was bad news to them.
By time of going to press the dollar was a bit a higher than the rand a move which is likely to prevail up until the festive season if not permanently.
The injiva might find solace in some few shops where the Rand converts at par with the US dollar.
But the tricky cross-rate has only been popular here in Bulawayo for reasons which some analysts have attributed to the city’s proximity with Botswana and South Africa.
While osiphatheleni (informal money changers) who spoke to the Daily News expressed joy at the peak of their business at this time of the year, the injiva described the current rating in Bulawayo as day light robbery.
“This is our time when others are busy rushing to holidays; we are busy spinning cash here,” said Christina Bhebhe, a money changer operating from the area adjacent to Tredgold Building.
“This is the only period we are assured of better profits as many people from outside the country back home so we have to maximise on that.”
But one of the injiva who only identified himself as Kholwani had no kind words for Bulawayo people.
“We love to come home every time but the way we are treated by amapostoli (money exchangers) is not fair.
They feast on our hard earned cash. For every R100 rand that I have I was told to add R2 in exchange for $10,” he lamemted.
“Surprisingly, I am told this is not the case in Gweru or Harare where there is little madness when it comes to exchange rates. We people in Bulawayo always complain of being marginalised but we contribute to that by supressing our own.”
The depreciation of the rand in Bulawayo has even spilled to the airtime vendors who demand R2 additional money whenever one uses $10 to buy time.
And this has not been received well by the brothers and sisters plying their trade across the Limpopo.
“It is now tough my brother, while many have been saying things are now affordable in Zimbabwe, we should stop buying goods from SA to avoid incurring transport expenses, to me It does not make sense because things are just tough here,” said Sibonokuhle Mkhize, who is based in Pretoria.
“You come home you get these funny charges and expenses now it’s the dollar above the rand and you can imagine how difficult it is to budget for the family. I would rather buy my stuff there before I come for Christmas. It’s better,” she said.
Mkhize said the prevailing situation in the country was a sign of a bleak economic future.
Another injiva based in Johannesburg, Xolani Ndlovu, said colleagues in South Africa were no longer prepared to come back home during the festive season preferring to send groceries due to the poor economic performance in the country.