Times are tough; times are impossible. The battle-weary faces of the informal traders tell the riches-to-rags story of a currency that is conspiring to impoverish the already marginalised. For decades, cross-border informal trade through South Africa has provided a lifeline for many Batswana unable to get a foothold in the mainstream economy. These informal traders, mainly engaged in clothing, hair products and various fashion accessories, enjoyed bustling business in the late 1990s, throughout the new millennium and until recently, all underpinned by the Pula's traditional dominance of the South African Rand.
From 1976 when the Pula replaced the Rand as Botswana's official currency, monetary policy authorities sought to strategically weigh the new currency against the Rand, taking into consideration the high import bill from South Africa. The result was numerous devaluations between June 1980 and May 30, 2005 when the government introduced the crawling peg mechanism under which the Pula is adjusted continuously against the currencies of five major trading partners.
