adminprocure them from neighbouring South Africa, a move that flies in the face of recent pronouncements by the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board.
NIEEB chairman Mr David Chapfika last month evoked provisions of Section 3(1) of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act 14/2007 which specifies that Government departments, statutory companies and local authorities should procure at least 50 percent of their goods and services from local companies.
The effect of the pronouncement was supposed to be immediate. I am sure many readers are as curious as myself about the reason that led Zinwa to make such a decision but my guess is that there is more to the issue than what meets the eye in this deal.
If Zinwa has discovered a problem with the pipes I suggest that they take up the issue with Turnall, advise them on it for them to try and remedy the situation and then make a decision thereafter if it is not corrected.
Besides, local companies can only grow if Zimbabweans work together to improve each other’s product offerings based on demand.
After hearing about the souring of relations between Turnall and Zinwa I read in The Sunday Mail that Turnall is resuming exports and would likely receive the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) quality mark by monthend.
So this dispels any quality concerns that Zinwa might have and Turnall’s capacity utilisation is currently at 75 percent which is enough to take care of the local, regional and international markets.
This then only leaves the question of price. However, I have it on good authority that Turnall is offering products that are cheaper than those sold in South Africa.
Forgive me for saying this but the issue is really confusing me a little.
Why would Zinwa cancel a deal with a local company that is going through a lot of positives at the moment is beyond comprehension.
Turnall has just commissioned its asbestos-free manufacturing plant in Bulawayo in response to the ban of asbestos based-products in South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and other parts of the region.
While demand for Turnall products in Brazil, Russia, India and China is expected to grow, Zinwa has decided to reduce its demand for the local product.
I encourage more dialogue on this issue to help the two organisations reach an amicable solution.
We would not like to unfairly criticise Zinwa but it would be positive to hear their side of the story.
It is not possible to overemphasise that we all need to work together to turn around Zimbabwe’s fortunes.
I like South Africans for one thing, our neighbours surely know how to pull together to push their country’s brands.
By the way, according to last year’s country brand index compiled by Future Brand, Zimbabwe is currently ranked a distant number 110 (which is last on the list) compared to our neighbour (South Africa) who are sitting at number 31. Before we even start to talk about the perception that the world has of us, our perception of ourselves is indeed very poor.
Charlene Wittstock is getting married to Prince Albert II of Monaco on July 2 and as Zimbabweans we have tried to celebrate her Zimbabweaness but it’s too late because our neighbours have made good on their claim on her as being South African.
I watched her on South Africa’s television programme Top Billing interview and I could not help the feeling that she wanted to mention that she was born in Zimbabwe but Jo-Ann Strauss would not let her.
She too might have felt that the mention of her birthplace might just change people’s perceptions about her as the Princess of Monaco.
That same feeling is what leads us to prefer foreign products even if we have our own right here in Zimbabwe.
When it’s not the issue of quality it is the issue of price. Perception has led us to unfairly categorise Zimbabwean products as either bad or expensive and sometimes there is absolutely no justification.
My hope is that the team at Zinwa was not influenced by perception, which is another thing that has killed our public institutions.
There are some buyers who despite being professionals in their fields tend to bend over backwards when kickbacks are offered.
Mr Shadreck Magadza, Cairns Foods general manager (commercial services) says that when a retailer imports potato chips from South Africa and puts a 15 percent mark-up they need to ask themselves the following questions:
Whose potato is it? Whose package is it?
Whose chemicals? South Africans have deliberately killed Zambian businesses by selling products at below cost and they are now doing the same in Zimbabwe.
Cairns’ strong presence in Zambia was also threatened by South Africa’s infiltration and the possibility of the same happening to Cairns in Zimbabwe is real.
This calls for the Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review to make economic sense.
Government needs to divorce itself from historic policy inconsistencies. It might be necessary to extend the duty-free regime to imports of raw materials as a number of companies have argued that competitiveness is affected by high tariffs on raw materials versus competing goods that are crossing the borders duty free.
Till next week . . . God bless.
- For comments, contributions and membership contact Buy Zimbabwe on: Email: [email protected] or [email protected]: 0772 714 233 or visit 22 Broadlands Road, Mount Pleasant, Harare; Website: www.buyzimbabwe.org.zw
Online Reporter