Black Man Time on Steroids !

[Muadib]

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...business1.html

Zimbabwe's central bank on Wednesday announced the introduction of higher denomination of banknotes to help end a cash crunch that has seen people besieging banks.

Central bank governor Gideon Gono said in a televised speech that the Z$200,000 bill - currently the highest value note and equivalent to $6.66 at the official rate and $0.12 on the widely used black market - would be phased out by January 1.

Gono said higher-value Z$750,000, Z$500,000 and Z$250,000 bills would start circulating on Thursday in an attempt to end cash shortages that have forced some people to sleep outside banks in the hunt for cash amid a severe economic crisis blamed on President Robert Mugabe's policies.

All they need to do now is put his picture on it... follow our lead.

[Islandman]

So sad, so sad, so sad. But of course it is all the British (white man) fault.

BTW you following the developments in the ANC in S. Africa? I think all things considered Mbeki has done a decent job but the people at the grassroots understandably running out of patience. I just hope the new leader is not another BMT man, Mugabe style. Nation building is never easy as we Jamaicans know only too well.

[Gamma]

i can understand the restlessness at the grassroots level.

in my humble opinion, the greatest beneficiaries to the end of apartheid are the so called coloureds.

[Islandman]

I saw where you mentioned that after your trip there and meant to ask you to elaborate when you had some time.

It is not that surprising in a way as the trickle down would tend to reach the middle class first, and I assume many of them were close to that during white-rule.

From what I have read a small black middle class has developed too but clearly the masses has not seen much change in terms of economics.

I expected the restlessness to happen sooner or later to be honest, the new generation of youngsters would not remember the darkest days of apartheid.

[Gamma]

in many ways it's politics in that the whites who were in control of the wealth have chosen to align themselves with the coloureds and the coloureds are of course happy to "step up inna life".

having said that i noticed that e.g. while the regional commisiioner for the SAPS was a black man, the officers directly below him were white and coloured and there was not much interaction with him..in fact it became obvious to me that he felt out of place.

it will take a while and there needs to be some kind of affirmative action or else it will take forever and result in sinilar unrest as in zimbabwe.

[Jawge]

Hmmm very interesting. Reminds
me of Ja. Quote" nothing really, change, all you have is a rerun"

[Gamma]

hmmmm.....having experienced both...i disagree with you. perhaps jamaica in the 40's and 50's but certainly not now.

[Islandman]

i know they have some kind of black economic empowerment program where some of the mining ownership, etc have to be black owned by a certain time, but again that is more a middle class affirmative action. It seems as if Mbeki wanted to do it by building the black middle class while this new guy gained his popularity by saying that it has to get to the grassroots faster.