Buy Zimbabwe is essential

Bernard Madzivanyika
Last week I stumbled upon a programme on eNCA a news channel called Checkpoint (‘’’S2/E28: For years the restaurant industry has been accused of hiring foreign national only to exploit them. A group of fed up Zimbabweans decided to seek justice). The programme prides itself on highlighting situation in communities that needs attention and rectification.

The story is about some Zimbabweans who work at Geet Restaurant in Pretoria. I am sure you cannot miss this Greet Restaurant as you drive out of Pretoria you see people eating as you approach what looks like a footbridge, which is above you, but it’s a restaurant. The Zimbabweans Blessing Muripo, Emmanuel Ngwenya, Ronald Mapfumo, Bhebhe and one other were narrating the abuse that they had endured at their workplace. They claim originally they were paid R1000/month until they were removed from the payroll and they got money according to tips they got during their shifts. The employer would then get 15% of their tips and they were given the remainder. Asked by the ENCA reporter why they had kept quiet for so long the answer was ‘’we are afraid because we don’t have the papers to stay. We are desperate because we have no option’’.

The Zimbabweans lodged a complaint with the bargaining council and when the owner of the restaurant was confronted he denied the allegation and a witch-hunt began resulting in the workers being forced to write letters stating that everything was okay. One lady, among the Zimbabweans, also claimed she was often called to the home of her boss to do some domestic chores which she was not paid for.

These are educated Zimbabweans who have crossed the Limpopo, even through the crocodile infested river, to look for work for the simple reason that they cannot find jobs in Zimbabwe. The owner had the cheek to tell his employees that ‘’I am putting food into your mouths and I am putting food into your peoples mouth’’.

It is important for Zimbabwe to be able to produce things for their own consumption and sell the excess. The current status quo is not sustainable. The rate at which we are exporting our money outside the country is frightening and has already resulted in the liquidity crunch that we are experiencing. It is also important to produce enough food to feed ourselves and process the food i.e. wheat to eventually bread, dairy, beef, poultry feed.

Our local industry must be able to produce for our needs. Some industries may need retooling but there are some that are raring to go and just need local support. I will pick the Motor Industry as an example. We used to have full production in our local assemblers. The benefits that these assemblers brought were mainly in the downstream industry. The policy was that a certain percentage of the vehicles were supposed to be made from local components.

Thus when CKD’s ( complete knocked down) kits were brought into the country, it was minus the locally produced components that included automotive glass (windscreens and side glasses), batteries, tyres, exhaust pipes, car seats, paint, etc. We can see the number of companies that were affected when the car assemblers scaled down or stopped operations. We need those jobs back.

The current scenario of mass importation of new vehicles that can be made locally is retrogressive in our efforts to create employment. The massive importation of cars and buses benefit only a few individuals. Unlike the downstream industries that feed into the assemblers the importation kills the Motor industry completely.

Unlike the investments done by the Assembler industries importation needs a briefcase company or a stocking space. What importers do is they ask for a percentage down payment, bring in the vehicles or buses and then get the remainder of the payment. No investment required. No job creation. The policies to boost the local Motor Industry are there but it looks like no-one bothers to make sure they are followed. The policies of buying locally assembled vehicles were crafted:

To conserve the nation’s scarce foreign currency resources

To promote development of the domestic automotive industry

To provide support at a time the domestic automotive Industry was facing considerable challenges

The only exemption were on special vehicles required which were not assembled locally.

The company closures then forced people to abandon their country and look for survival elsewhere. They end up being abused in other countries like the Geet Restaurant case. Some have made it but many have been compromised. Zimbabwe may not be able to employ everyone but opportunities to create employment are there. What is needed is a shift in mind-set like what the Buy Zimbabwe campaign is trying to achieve. The economy is not going to sort itself. Neither is a ‘’Messiah’’ going to come from somewhere. On one hand we are busy importing vehicles and buses that can be made locally and on the other we are bringing in Food and maize, surely the importation bill will shoot through the roof.

We must leave importation to critical things like fuel, some medicine and medical equipment, some industrial machinery and spare parts, and critical raw materials for manufacturing. Once we have industry running at full throttle the Government can have enough revenue through various taxes and only then can decent civil servants salaries be achieved.

It’s not like people don’t want to pay rates but it’s a question of decision on whether one should pay rates or buy food. Either the person is not working or the income is not coming. This has crippled local authorities and with so many incentives of cutting bills upon paying certain amounts still it is not working.

It cannot be right for Zimbabweans to find comfort in wearing ‘’bhero’’ clothing. Clothes that have been discarded by other people and we say thank you with open arms. We need to restore all those sectors.

Zimbabweans are innovative people and we have a person who invented the Gwatamatic (a machine that is programmed to cook sadza). If more funds are availed to institutions like the SIDRC (Institute of Industrial and Research Development Centre) then more components and machinery will definitely be manufactured in Zimbabwe thereby increasing our international competitiveness.

The Buy Zimbabwe Campaign is so critical in our survival and resuscitation of the country’s economy. From a glance one would dismiss the Buy Zimbabwe campaign but on further analysis of its importance it is a route that we cannot avoid if we are to come out of this economic mess. It gels well with Zim-Asset.

Buy Zimbabwe is another simple matrix of implementing Zim-Asset. We must not be found indicating right and turning left.

If we leave our fate to outsiders to supply us with everything they will eventually dictate and control us. Some of our resources are not infinity so we need to use the earnings on our development wisely.

Zim-Asset clearly states that it is crafted to achieve sustainable development and social Equity anchored on indigenization, empowerment and employment creation, which will be largely propelled by the judicious exploitation of the country’s abundant human and natural resources.

We can build a Zimbabwe that we want.

The writer can be contacted on 0713 015 169