This bottle of Mazoe is $37.99 (Namibian Dollars) in a supermarket in Windhoek.
It is made in Zimbabwe’s second-biggest city, Bulawayo.
$37.99 Namibia dollars is equivalent to US$2.
The same bottle costs US$5 in Zimbabwe, or $92.49 (Namibian Dollars).
If a Zimbabwean family uses one bottle per week, they spend US$270 per year.
In contrast, in Namibia, they would spend US$98 per year for the same bottle.
This is why Zimbabweans are poor: their government piles taxes on locally made consumer products, yet Namibians importing from Zimbabwe pay less simply because their government is not mismanaging the economy and trying to make up for it by heavily taxing citizens!
This issue extends beyond Mazoe. Many basic goods are heavily priced in Zimbabwe due to heavy taxation.
Last year alone, I paid over US$46,000 in taxes to the Zimbabwean government. Despite this, I don’t have clean drinking water at home, decent roads to drive on, or healthcare from the Zimbabwean government.
I even pay school fees for many children in the village and surrounding areas.
Where did my tax money go?
It gets looted by the ZANUPF political elites and their surrogates who get corrupt tenders.
Those tenders are inflated and we are punished for they through heavy taxation.
After paying those taxes, I am still charged more when I buy goods and I get nothing in return.
This is why Zimbabweans will remain poor until the brave among us say NO, this is enough!