I come from #ThisVillage of Ntabazinduna (Hill of Chiefs)! - Part 2

Never mind the many and sometimes weird titles we have heard in the recent past to address the long serving leader of the country, in #ThisVillage we were conditioned to know just one. The late paramount chief from Ntabazinduna, Chief Khayisa Ndiweni, always religiously used to address even at arms-length the president as "umfana lowu uMugabe" which is to say "this boy Mugabe"!

The philosophy behind such a title was to serve as a reminder that no individual especially in positions of political power should consider themselves too important to identify with ordinary people on any day. This is so because ordinary citizens must always have more than enough power to strip any person they entrusted with some responsibility and authority even in the highest office in the land of all the power, and humble them to the level of an ordinary ‘boy' in the village or streets.

Remember, in the first article I identified a "hill' as representation of wide horizons and summit as well. When a person is in their house or offices definitely the "walls" become a limitation to see very far (vision is lost). And, where there is no vision people perish. Those in state houses and high offices tend to pre-occupy themselves with changing air-conditioners, computers and sofas than changing peoples' lives.

Technically, the liberation struggle credentials (or life struggles) are reduced to a mere fight for freedom to walk on carpets and own fridges in offices (so called better life). Mind you, Whites never "allowed" us to own those items before!

Yet, from the hills we would still be able to see very far, and actually warn of economic or political danger whilst others are still busying themselves with petty things in high offices. We forget of the life of sitting on a stoep or wooden benches (background) and seek to only defend such "high life" at all costs. It is advisable that when one has reached the summit of their hill, they never lose focus that there are still many more other hills to climb elsewhere.

In #ThisVillage we have a number of hills we have successfully climbed, and never lived in a state of denial that there are similar if not worse hills to climb elsewhere. Mind you, I also use the hill as a metaphor of challenges, or danger, or hard life especially "emakhaya".

Take for example Gukurahundi genocide, there was relative peace within the borders of #ThisVillage, not because the Fifth Brigade never tried to invade our peace-loving area and destabilise our law-abiding zakhamuzi into lawlessness. However, the paramount chief rose to the occasion and demanded that he be told with substantial evidence of any sakhamuzi in his territory who was engaging in such outrageous claims disguised as a search for "dissidents".

Indeed, he indicated he had more than enough capacity and power to decisively deal with such a sakhamuzi for it didn't need specialised training from far away countries. Wider horizons from the hills had already indicated it was a mere "moment of madness". We never lived in a state of denial that other innocent people were faced with such a hill to climb elsewhere and couldn't summit it. Yikho isicelo sendunankulu yamaNdebele uChief Khayisa Ndiweni kwaba yikuthi hambani liyetshela "abafana labo uNkomo loMugabe" ukuthi balungisise indaba zabo khatshana lesigaba sami.

Another incident some years back was when the government tried to smuggle a project in the form of a "state-of-art" clinic by any rural standards into #ThisVillage with a complete disregard of the authority of the chief and legitimate consultative processes with izakhamuzi. In any case, a Royal Palace always commands more power than an administrative "state house", no wonder even in Britain you cannot be a Prime Minister without being "interviewed" by the Queen in her Royal Palace.

The paramount chief left them to construct the structure besides warning them repeatedly until it was ready for "official opening". He attended the occasion and delivered a short and precise speech with one profound request ukuthi akudilizwe lokhu manje (destroy this thing now). Take back everything to where it came from including the nurses. The issue was not that the people of #ThisVillage do not get sick, or the clinic had any structural faults.

As a result, we have our own great ruins that are a "monument of dictatorship" which always served as a reminder of its existence elsewhere in other territories for years without number. So, we were made to understand the effects of dictatorship if not stopped in its tracks at an early stage. Of course, to some people it could be in retrospect now because it's quite obvious we could be grappling with even greater problems at the moment than we ever imagined at the time.

Some challenges could have been deliberate artificial shortages of medication in that clinic, high mortality rates due to purposeful wrong prescriptions, and most likely nurses that a Health Minister in South Africa recently referred to as "devils in white", those nurses not  professional enough and without the best interests of izakhamuzi at heart.

Besides, we are not aware who were the builders and odakabhoyi in the construction process of that clinic. Why does that matter? Simply because as people in the area we know better ngubani olesandla esihle who has built most houses in #ThisVillage that have retained their strength against all scientific forces, and they cannot fail to build a mere clinic for the people even if it's a "national project".

It does not have to be a builder from China, or someone who speaks a certain language you don't even understand in the area. Kubanzima ukuthi lanxa izakhamuzi zifuna ukwazi kuyini okwakhiwayo esigabeni sabo angeke bakutshele uzwisise ngoba lenduna ingazange ibazise njengezakhamuzi ngendaba enjalo.

Another concern will be missing on a chance to boost the broader economy of #ThisVillage as we have always understood the basics of economic power intuitively. uDube angayakha ikilinika amathuba manengi ukuthi imali azayithola lapho (remuneration for a factor of production)  uzoyisebenzisa ngendlela efana lelandelayo esigabeni. Uzothenga imbuzi kunakaLimukani (exchange), okokuthi laye uzathatha leyo mali ayethenga umfushwa wolude kugogo kaMadende (consumption spending), kuthi ugogo laye ayethengela intandane yakhe amabhuku awesikolo (investment) esitolo sikaDlodlo.

UDlodlo uzaphinda abhadale ngayo isakhamuzi esisebenza esitolo sakhe (wage), kuthi lesosakhamuzi laye aphinde ayethenga itshomoliya koNxumalo. uNxumalo uzakuzwa eledlabuzane lokulima kakhulu okokuthi uzacina ethengisela izakhamuzi ezivela ngaphandle kwesigaba. Umnotho wesigaba uyakhula kanjalo ngoba that is economic growth lapho uNxumalo eselima kakhulu itshomoliya yakhe. The basic circular flow model is enjoying the role of the participants, and improving the standards of living yezakhamuzi (economic development).

Kukanti khona ukwakhiwa kwekilinika ngemali evele kuhulumende kungela bungilimbane (corruption) would have been government spending that is an injection into the economy at macro level which had its multiplier effects that led to an increase in aggregate demand. This is not bookish "economics", but very intuitive understanding of fundamentals that has nothing to do with understanding the effects of "sanctions" at international relations level! Ngiyabonga mina.

This article has been written in a personal capacity for the re-awakening of ordinary villagers by Mthokozisi Ndiweni. He is an emerging young professional pursuing to be fully qualified as a Decision Scientist and Economist, and about to complete his studies for a BCom in Quantitative Management and Economics at UNISA. He can be contacted on ndixam@gmail.com .