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Tafara Shumba Correspondent
Those who once developed a boil would understand better the pain associated with popping and squeezing it. Nevertheless, that short-lived pain is inescapable if one needs to be purged of that painful pus-filled bump.
Yours truly used to extremely detest an elderly boil expert in the village, for she would “ruthlessly” squeeze a recurrent boil on the buttocks.
Little did this writer know that the curing process involves that pain. May her soul rest in peace!
Government recently removed from the Open General Import Licence (OGIL) a myriad commodities that are locally manufactured. It must be noted that Government did not ban these commodities as peddled by those pushing for a certain political agenda.
Those who still want to import those commodities can apply for a permit from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. They can be granted if they satisfactorily justify their application.
The other thing that ordinary people need to understand before they are hoodwinked into crowd psychology and take part in destructive protests is that Government did not impose a wholesale ban on these commodities.
There are many Zimbabweans working in the Diaspora, mostly across the Limpopo. They can still visit their beloved ones with basic groceries for household consumption. One can still cross to Musina and buy their basic groceries. It is only bulk importation that the Statutory Instrument 64 has put restrictions on.
Government is in the process of curing an economic “boil”. It’s a painful process for now, especially to those who had found a career in that sector but joy comes in the morning for all citizenry.
The importation of commodities from other countries will never revive this economy. With such arrangement, Zimbabwe will forever become a supermarket for other countries. That arrangement only benefits those few in the importing business. These importers must realise that there is life after their generation and their life depends on the decisions that today’s generation is making today. People must learn to subordinate personal interests to general interests.
Government is looking beyond today. Those measures work and they were introduced after all-embracing consultations. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Last year Government removed blankets from OGIL for 24 months to protect the local textile sector. The results paid dividend as the sector’s capacity is fast improving. The sector now employs about 8 000 people up from 4 000 in 2014
Two years ago, Government restricted the importation of cooking oil and the results are tremendous. The cooking oil manufacturing sector is growing with 95 percent of the supermarkets shelf space being occupied by locally manufactured cooking oil, a significant jump from 15 percent in 2014.
Even the price of the commodity is said to have tumbled from $4,20 to the range of between $2,60 and $2,80 for a two litre bottle. Had it not been the failure by farmers to produce enough critical raw materials for oil manufacturing, the industry could be talking of exporting by now.
The cited sectors are a reflection of Zimbabwe’s manufacturing potential and there is every reason for Government to apply the protectionist policy at a large scale. If the growth in the cooking oil industry could be replicated in many of those manufacturing sectors, Zimbabwean economy can be transformed in the shortest time possible
So Government knows what is good for the economy and its people. Those who are resisting the cocktail of measures being introduced are motivated by a political agenda more than an economic one. It is a fact that there are some who thrive on crisis and this status quo is expedient for them.
There are some who have been benefiting from the system, thus they would resist change. It is unfortunate that some gullible young people were duped into the scheme and blindly followed the schemers like flies following a corpse right into the grave.
The protectionist policy is meant to boost the capacity of the local industries and that will subsequently create jobs for the young people who were coerced to burn infrastructure in protest of the restrictions. Some of them are soon going to languish in jails while those who sponsored them into riot will soon enjoy the fruits of the SI 64.
There is suspicion that there is a hand of some South African businesspeople in the protests. These businesspeople had come to rely on the Zimbabwean exporters. That is so selfish and it sad that the credulous young people are caught in those egotistical entrapment. These businesspeople must not forget that their country also has some protectionist policies. For instance, the importation of second hand vehicles, especially from Japan is banned and they are not even allowed to be driven on their roads enroute to Beitbridge Border Post.
One economist had a telling testimony on Spot Fm sometime last week. He took some agricultural stuff for testing in China. The samples were thrown into the bin at the airport before they were even allowed into a laboratory.
If South African businesspeople had come to value their relationship with Zimbabwean exporters, they are welcome to invest in this country. They must come and manufacture here or even form joint ventures with the local manufacturers. It is unfortunate that the authorities have allowed abnormalities to go on for long. By importing these locally available commodities, Zimbabwe was exporting jobs to these countries. Zimbabwe has lost hundreds of millions of US dollars through importing non-essential commodities.
The country had become a dumping market for cheap and poor products, some of which were smuggled. They posed unfair competition to the local firms.
As the Minister of Industry and Commerce Cde Mike Bimha who attends a SADC Council of Ministers in Botswana must explain Zimbabwe’s position on the measures taken. They must understand the situation as it is not unique to Zimbabwe.
At the same time the minister must be tact because we will very soon need their markets for our exports when the manufacturing industry has been fully capacitated to meet export demands.
We do not want a situation where our SADC brothers would also vengefully reject our products in future.
The local companies must appreciate Government effort in protecting them. This protectionism must translate into lower prices. This is not an opportunity to make super profits for it does not take Government a day to revoke the SI 64.
Online Reporter