How Zimbabweans have been conditioned to celebrate regression as progress

📅 Published: August 15, 2025

📰 Source: thezimbabwean

Curated by AllZimNews.com

Piles of rubbish would mount up in yards, on street corners, and in open spaces, attracting flies, stray dogs, and disease.

The stench was as constant as the hopelessness.

Today, the truck passes through once a week, on Fridays.

For many, this weekly visit has become an event worth celebrating.

People wave, smile, and even express gratitude to the municipality.

It is almost as if we are being blessed by the mere sight of a service vehicle doing what it is supposed to do.

But here’s the twist.

When my family moved to the low-density “white suburb” of Redcliff in 1982, just after independence, refuse collection happened twice a week without fail — on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Every home had a council-issued bin, and the streets were spotless.

You could walk barefoot without worrying about stepping on a discarded bottle or rotten food.

It was the norm, and no one thought of thanking the council for it.

It was simply expected.