admincountry and the people.
The dictionary says selling out entails the compromise of integrity, morals or principles in exchange for financial gain or success, hardly qualifying it as a virtue as a national or community development tool.
The media recently reported Bhebhe as declaring that he does not worry about selling out to the Western countries, as charged by this party’s critics, as long as it improves the lives of Zimbabweans. According to Bhebhe, “when you talk about money naturally there is some selling involved”. He went further to suggest that nothing “is wrong with me going to the West to sell out so that we get the investments and so that factories that were closed are re-opened”.
Obviously, the MDC-T official did not mean it in a bad way other than lack of understanding of what he was talking about. As his speech demonstrates, he seems to be passionate and forthright about improving the plight of the people and his country.
However, an apparent lack of understanding on the subject matter he was speaking on undermines his apparent commitment to his country and its people.
Firstly, one cannot equate selling to selling out. In selling, a fair value can be attached to that which is being sold. It does not involve compromising the integrity, morals or principles of a person! When selling involves these vices, then it becomes selling out.
There is a huge difference there, and the MDC-T official should know that. Language is very important, especially in politics. To put that importance into perspective, the MDC-T agreed to a lot of issues in the Global Political Agreement that led to the formation of the coalition Government whose meaning they did not understand. For instance, the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Number 19 Act provides the President with powers to appoint service chiefs. The MDC-T thought that they had a say in the matter, which turned out not to be the case.
Secondly, Bhebhe does not understand the global political economy and investment trends. His assumption that if Zimbabwe chooses the West over other destinations such as China, the country would benefit immensely, is misplaced. According to Bhebhe, the West is a proven investment partner that will benefit Zimbabwe. He assumes that only the West will enable Zimbabwe hospitals to have medicine, factories to open and a local diamond processing plant established in Zimbabwe. There is no empirical evidence for the MDC-T official to suggest that, for instance, Western investors would build a secondary industry such as a diamond mining plant.
Over the past century, the West, dominated investments in Zimbabwe and indeed in Africa, have been reluctant to establish secondary industries because they would pose direct competition to their home-based industries. Secondary industries add more value to primary products, and thus provide more returns, jobs and infrastructural development in the West.
The Western countries cannot wilfully give up that advantage because it will undermine the basis of their competitive edge. No one, for that matter, would do that — not the Zimbabweans, Chinese, Indians or Brazilians! To think that some countries would be so benevolent is to be very naïve! It is difficult to think that diamond mining will provide any meaningful revenues should they be mined and sold under the existing mining industry legislative and regulatory framework.
While the mining industry has extracted, and sold billions of dollars worth of all minerals in Zimbabwe, the government has received barely US$200 million.
Clearly, the traditional Western investors that Bhebhe applauds exhibit a serious investment model! However, Bhebhe does not seem to realise that.And that is the danger about his position, his lack of understanding of investment trends. To build a diamond processing plant and a sustainable economy that will truly benefit the local people, Zimbabwe needs to create an indigenous-based economy.
But then, Bhebhe criticises the indigenisation programme and views it as scaring away investors. It is possible that Bhebhe does not know that there is no single country in the West, or anywhere in the world, that has developed without a national economy.
With globalisation and fierce competition for economic opportunities and raw materials by economic giants, there is no incentive for foreign investors to build economies that are focused on national development, but extractive economics. The infrastructure and investment set up is intended primarily to extract as much resources and wealth as possible rather than build a sustainable economic development framework that would integrate the indigenous people into the mainstream economy.
To make a case for sticking with the traditional investors, Bhebhe reportedly suggests that he has a problem with Zimbabwe choosing China as an investment partner. He says, “China, to the best of my knowledge, is a Third World country officially, but they have worked hard to achieve the status of a First World. So China is not the best partner for investment. We need to go to countries like the Americas and Europe who are known for their investment capacity.”
Surely, Bhebhe does not understand global investment trends. — Southern Times.
l Peace Thabane writes from Montreal, Canada.
Online Reporter