Zimbabwe Absurdity

Quite often the best place to shop for vehicle spares in Harare is in the old Kopje area; specifically Kaguvi street. It’s mayhem down there – cars parked haphazardly, running repairs and touts hassling passing drivers “You want bearings? Spares?” which are either stolen or dodgy salvages. It’s advisable to maintain a sense of humour and not get ruffled. I once told a particularly persistent tout to F off only to be accused of being a racist. “Fine” I said, “lets’ go and chat to the police about it then”. He sulked off, continuing to mutter.

Today I was looking for tie rod ends (the bits that hold the steering to the wheels). When asked by a couple of touts if I wanted spares or bearings I replied that I did not buy my spares off the street; after all, who would want a tie rod separating at 120km/h? Lots of tears and dead bodies! They saw the joke and didn’t bother hassling me again. Curiously the shop I went into only had the inner tie rod ends. The outer ones were missing out of stock!