... as Kingsley Mamabolo ends his tour of duty
THE INCOMING South African high commissioner to Zimbabwe, still to be appointed, will find the going tough because of continuing rumblings of discontent about trade relations.
Outgoing high commissioner Kingsley Mamabolo, whose tour of duty ends on February 15 after more than three years in the post, found himself trying to smoothe ruffled feathers among industrialists and government officials in Harare who claim that South Africa is getting by far the better of the trade agreement between the two countries.
Trade and industry minister Alec Erwin (who ironically was brought up in the eastern border town of Mutare) was drawn into the wrangle and promised better terms.
The negotiations have taken a different turn recently with the possibility of a free-trade agreement being signed among the 14 members of SADC. Exporting to South Africa has become more important than ever for Zimbabwe, where the collapsing currency makes its goods particularly cheap in foreign markets while inflation of 46% is rapidly eroding domestic consumer buying power. When Mamabolo was first appointed, Harare was seen as one of the plum posts in Africa because of a shared history of white rule. That was soon forgotten as economics and business matters took over.
BY MARTIN RUSHMERE
