"Zimbabwe's a mess"

he told me, "And it isn't going to get any better."
We were waiting in the Post Office queue and it gave this man, a former farmer there, the chance to tell me what he thought.
He lived in the country when it was still called Rhodesia. He left when the talks about independence began. 
     "I can see what's going to happen," he told me years ago. I remember the conversation well. He had just sold the family farm - for something less than it was worth even then - and got out.
He's a decent man. He tried to treat his employees well. They were probably rather better housed, fed and educated than many. He saw to it that the children went to school and that medical attention was available. If the correspondence he still gets is any indication then yes, they liked him. 
But, he didn't feel he could stay. He left when the terms of then Rhodesia's independence were being negotiated.
     "I don't trust Mugabe," he said.
I know that not everyone agreed with him. They saw independence as the great opportunity. The country was in good shape. They could make a go of it.
I remember telling this man about the history lesson I had been given in school, the one in which our teacher had told us, "Put your books away. I am going to tell you what is going to happen in Rhodesia." 
Our teacher was absolutely right. He predicted the descent into chaos. This man reminded me of this yesterday.
He doesn't see the situation as improving either. Yes, there is now going to be a change of leader but will he be any better? He doubts it. 
     "Things may look as if they will improve for a bit but they won't. Emmerson Mnangagwa is not to be trusted. He was one of Mugabe's men for years. He is guilty of ordering many deaths. Morgan Tsvangirai can't do the job. He's not strong enough. He doesn't have enough tribal support. I don't think he's well enough either."
It's a gloomy view to say the least. It may well also be a very accurate one. 
      "So Zimbabwe was better off under colonial rule?" someone else asked as we moved forward closer to the counter.
       "It was different," came the response.
His turn came and he went to the counter. I looked at the other man who had spoken. He's a man of fairly radical views who will tell you he is "far left". I know he would have been trying to pick an argument.
      "I suppose you think he's right," he said - still eager for an argument.
I started to move towards the counter as someone else put their things in their bag and said,
      "Zimbabwe has sixteen official languages. That's bound to make for communication problems."
Behind me I heard, 
       "F..... hell, no wonder they can't talk to one another."
 Of course it isn't the only problem - but I am sure it doesn't help.