Zimbabwe: ‘Cat and Mouse Game’ – Zimbabwe Govt Workers Moonlight As Street Vendors

Every morning, Dumisani Ngara* gets up at dawn to catch a 6:30am bus to work at Zimbabwe’s Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities. The government-provided bus is free for civil servants in Harare, and on his $250 monthly salary, he tries to save every cent he can.

Once at work, Ngara – dressed neatly in a suit and tie – makes sure the day’s files are all in order before the office opens at 8:30am. In between paperwork and meetings, he takes breaks. At 1pm, he opens a lunchbox packed…