‘It’ll kill me’: Zimbabwe counts cost of rise in illicit alcohol use

Lack of jobs and Covid lockdowns fuel boom in cheap but lethal hooch made in backyard stills

It is 7pm and inside the shebeen, or unlicensed bar, in Harare, men and women clutch small bottles of whisky" and talk animatedly as they dance to loud music.

One man staggers and falls over, to the amusement of other drinkers. He mumbles inaudible words as he drifts into sleep. Nearby, two other men doze after spending hours in the bar on a sweltering September day.