MaIl Bag
ReaDeR'S leTTeRS
Dear Editor
Friends of mine returning to Mutare from
Harare came across this gentleman with a
bass that he'd caught in the stream near Tiny
road Nyazura.Any idea what a fish this size
would weigh?
Regards.
Nigel Cliffe
Harare, Zimbabwe
Wow, that’s quite a nice bass! I’d be interested
to know where he caught it? Nyazura is quite
a way from Osborne Dam - and I know of
no dams in that immediate area that might
be capable of producing a fish of that size!
Generally speaking, it’s a little difficult to
judge the size of fish very accurately from
photographs - perspective is the problem and very often pictures don’t do large fish any
justice. However, judging by the size of the
fellow’s hand (holding the bass), which is in
the same field-of-view as the bass’ mouth, I
would guess that fish is in the region of about
8 to 10lb. - Editor
Dear Editor
Please alert your readers for the grave acts of
corruption that my wife and I as tourists to
Zimbabwe witnessed on the 5th August 2009
at Beitbridge border post and Nyamapanda .
At Beitbridge it was openly done as ‘Guma
Gumas’ take up and jump the queues and pass
money to the lady at the counter. I actually
took a picture of the lady involved. Moreover
the inefficiency, chaos and non standardised
approach by the Zimra officials was disgusting!
My 4x4 trailer was never verified because
(after being asked to give a security guard R50
) the customs official told me that he was too
tired to open such a big trailer!
At Nyamapanda a self declared police Interpol
agent asked me also for money (R300) in order
that I could avoid the trip back to Harare in
order to “legalise my car”, because I could
not produce a SAPS RSA police clearance
certificate , this after I had produced the legal
V o l . 21 # 1
compliance SARS clearance certificate issued
at RSA Beitbridge customs.
Also the inefficiency of the Zimra officials was
astonishing. No one could care less about all
the items I had declared including wine, diesel,
electronic equipment etc etc .
I have always respected and enthusiastically
defended Zimbabwe as a holiday destination,
having visited extensively on two previous
occasions, but unfortunately after the circus
of the 5th and 6th of August 2009 have vowed
never to come back again.
I have also made sure that all major 4x4
community forums in the RSA, the media
in Mozambique, Mediafax and Canal de
Mocambique have received a report back
similar to the one that I am sending you.
Someone needs to clean up the slums of
incompetence, inefficiency, dirt, chaos and
corruption called Beitbridge and Nyamapanda
run by the Zimra border post clowns!
Thank you,
J. Felizardo
Eastern Cape
RSA
This sort of thing has unfortunately become
all too common in Zimbabwe these days. As
word of incompetence and corruption spreads,
any chance that Zimbabwe will benefit from
extra tourism overflow from the 2010 soccer
in South Africa will evaporate. We forwarded
Mr Felzardo’s letter on to ZIMRE and ZTA
(Zimbabwe Tourism Authority) for comment.
As we go to print with this issue, we have not
received any acknowledgment or response.
However, our own investigations and liaison
with key players in the Tourism and Safari
industry confirms vigorous lobbying and
discussions are being undertaken to rectify
this situation - Editor
Dear Editor
Re: Ladies and Juniors Bank Angling
International - Lake Chivero 2009.
On behalf of the National Anglers Union we
would like to thank you for your kind donation
of vouchers for a year’s subscription to the
African Fisherman for our ladies in the Bank
Angling International which was held at Lake
Chivero.
Kind Regards
Denis Todd
NAUZ Chairman
Do you have any sugg