Standing in a queue at OR Tambo International Airport, about to head for Robert Mugabe International Airport, an old man of Indian descent asked if I was going home.

"No. I am South African, going to a family function in Zimbabwe," I answered. "Oh, I hope it all goes well," the man said.

It turned out the man was Zimbabwean. He was going home, after a sojourn to see his relatives in Benoni.

The man quickly shared the story of his collapsed footwear and jewellery business in Harare, and the difficult choice he had to make: either pay a bribe or let his successful business collapse.

"My religion does not allow me to pay a bribe. I am a Muslim, my brother. So, I let my business go down.

"Everyone who does business in Zimbabwe today pays a bribe," the man said, with tears refusing to be hidden.

"I am very sorry, Sir." Those were my last words to the man who did not tell me his name. He, too, did not ask for mine. And off we flew to Zimbabwe, where visitors are welcomed by a big billboard at the airport advertising the country as "the place of the majestic Victoria Falls".

My host waited to pick me up and drive from Harare to Gweru, a distance of just under 300km , southwest of Harare on the N2 highway to Bulawayo.