Chronicle Editor
Mugove Hamadziripi, Sunday News Correspondent
SINCE independence, Zimbabwe has been facing some challenges. Transformation has been one of the challenges, as the nation is moving from symbolism to substance, from individual aspiration to structural accommodation.
In the whole process, the Government has been embroiled with a horde of inconsistent global and regional political and economic forces. The first reality being globalisation and its ripple effects on our economy. Globalisation has continued to reinforce the interdependencies between different countries and regions.
It has also deepened the partnership between the so-called Global North and Global South. The challenge facing Zimbabwe is to design public policies so as to maximise the potential benefits from globalisation, and to minimise the downside risks of destabilisation and/or marginalisation.
None of these policies is new, and Zimbabwe, just like most countries in the Global South, has been implementing them for some time. To achieve this, there is need to have the right combination of policies. While Zimbabwe is clearly on the right track or trajectory, there is still some way to go. The Government should recognise that the euphoria of political transformation would be enormously deflated if the economic status quo are not modified.
In a nutshell, political independence should directly lead to economic gains for a significant proportion of the population. One such option is affirmative action. As for Zimbabwe, the realisation of affirmative action goals occurs in a context somewhat at odds with those societies where such experiments have taken place like India or Malaysia.
Within those contexts, the ambition was largely to redress the structural impediments facing significant minorities burdened by racial, ethnic or caste disadvantage and discrimination. The paradigm of affirmative action is a limited one, incorporating the demands of discrete minorities who continue to make claims on the majority because of their outsider and minority status. As such, affirmative action is not seen as a transformational measure.
The purpose of affirmative action has been stated to redress systemic or structural discrimination. It differs from the traditional anti-discrimination model in that it does not arise from individual complaints. Underpinning affirmative action is the notion that stereo-types and prejudice exist at the subconscious as well as conscious level to thwart access and advancement for large numbers of disadvantaged groups.
Equal treatment is seen as compounding the legacy of structural discrimination; the only equitable path is seen as some kind of preferential treatment. Where affirmative action programmes have been implemented, they have largely arisen as temporary measures in response to the apparent intransigence of racism and sexism, and they may not always have been very popularly received.
In the United States, for example, it is arguable that there never has been widespread support for affirmative action and that the whole enterprise has consistently been subjected to skepticism and ambivalence. The Malaysian experiment appears to have enjoyed some success largely because of that Government’s commitment to transforming, or at least making the public sector represent, the dominant face of Malaysian society.
Affirmative action programmes in Zimbabwe have been impressive, despite the temporary hibernation of the movement for the past few years. We all recall how the AAG, as a powerful entity, made positive strides in the business sector. As a successful pressure group, it significantly and immensely contributed to the growth of several black-owned businesses. AAG molded a number of respectable public personalities, and flamboyant business persons like Philip Chiyangwa, the late Peter Pamire, Supa Mandiwanzira, to name but a few. They are all products and members of the AAG hall of fame.
Zimbabwe today needs the AAG more than ever. The economy is going through rapid changes that threaten the very existence of black-owned businesses. Entrepreneurs need a Joshua in the name of AAG at this moment. (Joshua comes from the Hebrew name “Yehoshua,” meaning “God is deliverance.” In the Old Testament of the Bible, Joshua was the name of the Israelite leader who succeeded Moses and led the Hebrews to the Promised Land).
The entrepreneurs need someone to turn to. The entrepreneur needs an affirmative voice now more than ever. There is need for Chiyangwa to step up and provide guidance to ensure that the AAG dream lives on. The revival and sustainability of AAG should be buttressed through the Chiyangwas who should support AAG incumbent president, Mike Chimombe and the entire national executive and structures.
The prevailing socio- political climate in Zimbabwe is failing small businesses and entrepreneurs. As an apolitical and independent pressure movement, the AAG should now resurrect and serve the interests of all Zimbabweans, and stand on the side of the business, the side of the entrepreneur from across Zimbabwe.
Small businesses and entrepreneurs are not represented by such well knitted and established entities as the CZI, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, Institute of Directors, etc. Zimbabwe genuinely needs an entity like AAG to stand up for the entrepreneur in these trying economic times. It’s about time the AAG rises to the occasion and fill in the huge chasm that has relegated the entrepreneur from mainstream economic activities into the doldrums or economic Siberia. Entrepreneurs need a voice and a chance to play an active role in Zimbabwe’s economic activities – mining, farming, manufacturing, telecoms, etc.
The season of affirmative action has arrived! A new day has dawned, and with it emerges a new breed of entrepreneurs. The torch of empowerment and affirmative action will be carried in the hands of this generation through AAG.
Zimbabweans need the message of affirmative action more than ever before. It’s a ‘now word’ for Zimbabweans. Due to Covid-19, entrepreneurs, in fact Zimbabweans in general, are living in and walking in defeat and discouragement. But God’s destiny for each and every one of us is that we shine bright “as the dayspring of the dawn, fair as the shining moon, bright and brilliant as the sun in all its strength—astonishing to behold as a majestic army waving banners of victory” (Song of Songs 6:10).
Today, through AAG, is the defining moment for Zimbabwean small businesses and entrepreneurs to come out of hiding. The Joshua Generation! It’s about time the AAG conquers the day for the betterment of Zimbabweans.
Mugove Hamadziripi is an executive member of Affirmative Action Group (AAG) Matabeleland South region. He is writing in his personal capacity. He can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected],
Twitter: @mhamadziripi.
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