Indigenisation: robbing Peter to pay Chamunorwa

I COULD have written a syrupy piece about our Independence until I reasoned that I could be dancing out of tune. Surely, after 31 years of self-destruction, what is there to celebrate? So I decided to be more realistic and comment about indigenisation.

It was a little over a decade ago that I broached this sensitive subject in a column I used to write for the Daily News. Funny that three papers than ran my columns were to be later banned, except the Sunday News for some odd reason. Well that is another long story.

Anyway, in that article I lamented the fact that the black empowerment lobby in Zimbabwe seemed to have lost its way and, as one economist put it, only succeeded in providing economic space for mediocrity. Sadly, little has changed. They are still groping in the dark.

If they are not chasing Nigerians out of town, they are forcefully occupying someone else's hard-earned business. In fact, stealing is a more appropriate description.

Despite efforts by elements in the current government to give the indigenisation lobby a lifeline, albeit through dubious legislation, the face of this otherwise noble ideal has firmly on its head the mantle of idiocy. It's difficult to talk about leadership and progress in the same breath as the Affirmative Action Group (AAG).

Exiled activist Phil Matibe pulls no punches in his description of the organisation when he says that the Affirmative Action Group is an advocacy group for greed that promotes and propagates intolerance, practises hate-speech without limitation, and incites law abiding citizens to become lawless accomplices and accessories to its sinister criminal crusade.

"It enthusiastically functions as and constitutes Zanu PF's white collar business robbery unit," he adds in his trademark acerbic manner.

Perhaps that is rather harsh a verdict. Yet, given what one sees on the ground, it is difficult to differ with this description no matter how unfair it sounds. The AAG simply can't be taken seriously as long as it continues to be associated with the likes of Philip Chiyangwa, Themba Mliswa and, I dare mention, Joseph Chinotimba. While they might be at pains to disassociate themselves with the former, their methods take a huge leaf from his legacy.

It goes without saying that after failing to deliver, the AAG became necessary to push a reluctant government punch drunk with the allure of self-rule to act. Citing the restrictive Lancaster Agreement, black business needed a body through which they could push for space in the post independent economy.

However noble that cause could have been, the indigenisation lobby proceeded to soil itself through very questionable actions and utterances that gave their perceived detractors more than enough ammunition to discredit their cause. The Affirmative Action Group and its shadow body, the Indigenous Business development Centre, came to be seen largely as combative. That in itself breaks the basic rule that you cannot build something by first destroying it.

As the economy of the time became increasingly skewed, sanity had to prevail. It became requisite for the Black empowerment and affirmative action lobby to shift from its state of war with anything that got into its way, to one of mobilising and using existing structures to gain space in the economy..

The fact that over thirty years after independence, little headway has been made in this direction should place the whole empowerment argument in its proper perspective. If there is a country that requires urgent redress as far as economic empowerment is concerned it is Zimbabwe. The glaring disparities in all sectors of the economy that were ample evidence that something was terribly wrong still exist in true Orwellian style.

True, one section of the community derived direct benefits from a myriad of legislation. The whites monopolised those resources that were key to holding economic power. These included land, minerals, access to capital and a monopoly in business. Empowerment therefore was and still is justified on moral and socio-economic grounds where the main aim should have been to redress historical imbalances and not to line a few venerated pockets.

We now have seen how having a black majority government in place is no guarantee for the correction of the wrongs of the previous regime. Add to this dilemma, the fact that the indigenisation lobby has, to quote one cynic, been "hijacked by characters in shiny suits and pointed shoes."

The so-called champions of indigenisation have been more associated with angst; property grabbing, asset stripping and amassing land through very dubious means. The court appearances and law suits involving those in the top leadership of the AAG are ample evidence of this.

What makes the whole thing scary is the fact that the current minister in charge of indigenisation in government came from the ranks of the AAG! Former AAG vice president Saviour Kasukuwere's barn storming antics in the last few months regarding the Indigenisation Act does not give comfort to any right thinking businessman, let alone investor.

The slogan of the indigenisation lobby in Zimbabwe should be, "Organise, don't antagonise!" Instead of making threats and raiding legitimate business entities, the AAG should first put its house in order. In fact, there are those who believe that it should be disbanded altogether. It wasn't surprising that the organisation had reached the point of implosion last week when then the entire handpicked executive walked out.

That is what happens when you have an executive that is not accountable to anyone and has practically no mandate from its membership. The few continue to dominate with the same people benefitting whether it be government tenders, land allocation or bank loans..

As the few get fatter by the day, the same rumblings of discontent that led to liberation can be heard. The landless, in spite of the much touted land reform programme, are still crying out for a solution. Having moved to the cities in search of survival, they were met with brutal evictions and they remain landless.

As the ranks of the unemployed continued to swell, a clear empowerment programme would have created thousands of jobs if only the right policies were put in place. We have been seeing the warning signals as levels of crime continue to rise stoked by a corresponding web of corruption. It's a sad tale of the bread basket that became a basket case.

Social harmony and stability are the cornerstones of sustained economic growth. However, they are largely dependent on the playing field being level. When a section of the population enjoys massive privileges at the expense of the rest, then such stability cannot be guaranteed. Race is no longer the sole dividing line between the haves and the have-nots.

The black moguls who occupy seats on the AAG executive have hijacked the indigenisation bandwagon for personal gain. They have turned to be the worst oppressors hiding behind the veneer of entitlement when their interests are purely selfish.

Enterprises that genuinely seek success in a hostile and competitive economic environment should, besides demanding empowering legislation, concentrate on capacity and image building. Black enterprises should not necessarily be associated with failure or shoddy goods and service. Integrity and honesty are the hallmarks of good business practice.

Such qualities are sadly lacking among a sizeable number of black-run businesses. Such are the businesses that then clamber on the indigenisation bandwagon to cover up for their inadequacies. Their performance has been a catalogue of errors as they employ business practices that leave a lot to be desired.

The indigenisation lobby should be building bridges with established business, bot burning them down. They should be assuring them that they have nothing to fear from indigenisation. They should drop the attitude of what the late Ariston Chambati once referred to as "robbing Peter who is white, to pay Chamunorwa who happens to be black."

Indigenisation should benefit everyone. Established business has the experience that it can cascade down to the up and coming businesses, while at the same time building synergies and downstream industries that can feed into the wider economy. It's a win-win situation we should be thriving for not one where we tell people to go to hell.

Organisations such as the AAG, or a sane version of it, should be there to encourage the propagation of the work ethic Zimbabweans are renowned for all over the world. The evolution of a true spirit of entrepreneurship, through the acquisition of business skills and recognition of the fact the seeking of profit is not an end in itself but a vehicle for the greater accumulation and control of resources. Rome was certainly not built in a day.

The compulsory transfer of wealth from one group to another adds little to the aggregate wealth of the nation. In fact it places a lot of that wealth in danger of being frittered away. A cursory glance at the state of the farms that were designated without a proper plan on how they were going to be sustained is a case in point. Some lie idle and are being reclaimed by the bush, a grim allegory to neo-classic post-independence mismanagement.

Indigenous business people should identify the resources to which they deserve access, such as capital, and then maximise on the availability of such. They should also be honest to themselves by identifying and accepting their shortcomings as a way of finding ways of addressing them.

It is in this vein, therefore, that the indigenisation lobby in Zimbabwe should dump the language of grievance and entitlement at all costs. The gospel they should preach is that of equity, enablement and the quest for excellence. For them to be taken seriously they should cut the apron strings with political entities that seek to abuse them for selfish ends.

Finally, they should endeavour mend their bad image and work towards changing negative perceptions. If it's a case of bad leadership, then they should seek to redress this. If it is the organisation itself that is in question, then they should dump it and establish a credible vehicle by which they can attain genuine empowerment that will lead to economic prosperity.

In the current environment it might look as if this is hard to achieve, yet it's very possible nonetheless.


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Lenox is a public relations consultant and a freelance writer . He has written columns for The Sunday News, "On the Lighter Side," the banned Daily News, "Lenox Lizwi Mhlanga on Friday" and The Weekly Times, "Hard and Low." He used to aspire for political office until Jonathan Moyo rejoined Zanu PF. Politics has lost all meaning