The Chinese ... and Zimbabweans ... are like Oxygen

I needed to have a fag. So I walked out of this spanking new African air terminal in order to find space to satisfy my nicotine addiction.

Outside I came across a scene of busy endeavour. Workmen were painting roof trusses destined to be hoisted up and added to the sparkling new airport edifice.

As I lit up one of the workmen turned to face me. I recognized him instantly, or rather I recognized the look in his eyes. All Zimbabweans in the Diaspora have the look. The eyes have “a homeless” glaze tinged with “perhaps you will accept me in any case”. It can be likened to the "the dark brown taste of being poor[1]” look the children had at the Coloured orphanage I attended as a child. It is the look of “displaced” human beings.

“Mankwanani shamwari” [Good morning friend] I venture in my best Shona. Soon the whole group stops painting, and gathers around me. They are all from Zimbabwe, the country of my birth. Instinctively I first share my fag before offering out others. It is an act of bonding.

A spirit of comradeship quickly overtakes our group. As Sam Nujoma, President of SWAPO in Namibia, once said, “we are together, we are the same … we are from each other”.

The mood is also slightly conspiratorial.  So conversation is just a bit stilted, especially as we are approached and then “watched over” by their foreman, a Chinese gentleman with a kindly facial expression.

There are sniggers about Gideon Gono bedding Robert Mugabe’s wife, Grace. “Gideon is now the new jongwe (cockerel)”. “Mugabe killed Tsvangirai’s wife, now see what has happened to his wife”.

Four of the group are university graduates … now working as semi skilled painters, in a foreign country. They are philosophical and stoic about things. They say they are being treated well in this country and that the government “is good”. Why do I feel slightly uncomfortable about the expression of gratitude?

They go on. It is better than being burnt alive and thrown off trains in South Africa, to which I am about to fly. I feel worse.

The Chinese foreman also wants a fag. My inner self is a conflict zone. I decline. They prevail upon me to relent saying “never mind … just give him one”. Now feeling ashamed, I comply.

In impeccable English, one of them, gives me a clear dissertation of a new reality. First it was Cecil John Rhodes and gang, doing it in Africa on behalf of British imperialism. There were others, like Rhodes, doing it for France, Belgium, Italy, Germany …. the list is long.

Well, now we have the Chinese.

“It is different. But it is the same. The Afrikaners were right … we are ordained in the Bible to be hewers of wood and drawers of water … in our own continent… even though Africa is so incredibly rich in natural resources … our own leaders are making sure of that …”

I am feeling nauseous. But there is much laughter as someone quips –“but are they (the Chinese) not supposed to be communists? We have a new socio economic philosophy – communist capitalism”.

There is a lament and much bewilderment about the support that Mugabe continues to be given by African leaders, led by South Africa. Mandela made a grave mistake in choosing Mbeki over Cyril Ramophosa, as his successor. The problem was that he consulted African leaders like Mugabe. They had not forgotten how their then most senior colleague, Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia, had been done in by “little” Frederick Chiluba, a labour man, like Cyril and Tsvangirai. These leaders have a pathological fear of “the working class”.

Their support, it is observed, will strengthen, now that Mugabe has diamonds. Zimbabweans will not benefit from this wealth. It is being turned into “loot” to be shared amongst corrupt leaders.

The Chinese foreman smiles more broadly, and the twinkle in his eye brightens, as he acknowledges the presence of diamonds in Zimbabwe.

The group assures me that the foreman is “a good man”. So is the Company that employs them. It is all better than being back home in Zimbabwe. “They are helping us. We can send money home … where our families are starving.”

Soon I am on my flight to South Africa. A white man is seated next to me. In exasperated tones he brings it to my attention that the majority of passengers in our part of the cabin are all Chinese. I tell him that it was the same on earlier flights I made to Australia, New Zealand and Namibia. He is not happy.

I am quiet, struggling with the inner pain I feel about those I have just left and the millions of others in the Zimbabwe Diaspora. As one of them had said – “we Zimbabweans are now like oxygen … everywhere”. “Just like the Chinese” had been the prompt riposte.

As we land in Johannesburg the air waves carry a story that the Vice President of China has just landed to engage with our leaders in promoting “mutual interests …”

Later the air waves switch to report that ABSA CEO, Maria Ramos, is appealing to South Africans to up our game if we “are to match the Asians”.

On the way home my mind plays out a panoramic picture of incredible beauty and ambience. It is called “World’s View”. It is situated in the Motopos Hills of Zimbabwe. It nettles the grave of Cecil John Rhodes.

Near the grave is a monument to the Alan Wilson patrol. They were slaughtered as Ndebele warriors tried to stem the tide of British imperialism. As the vanquished British soldiers lay dead on the battlefield, the Ndebele impi honoured them with the salutation “They were men of men and their fathers were men before them." The salutation is inscribed on the monument at Motopos.

I ponder about this new invasion. The invaders are welcomed. They do not come in ox wagons armed with rifles. They arrive, first class, by air. They glide around in shiny Mercedes Benz motor vehicles. They carry briefcases. There are no battles or fights … just hand shakes and smiles on knowing faces.

In 1996 Thabo Mbeki made a stirring speech titled – “I am an African”.  What did it mean when Rhodes arrived? What does it now mean, particularly for us Zimbabweans, or the millions of still impoverished South Africans living under cardboard, corrugated iron and plastic … or other Africans in “our Africa”?

What, in the name of heaven, does Mbeki now mean when he touts an “African Renaissance” with his Thabo Mbeki Foundation? Was it not under his presidency that South Africa became the most unequal society in the world? Did he not deny over 320, 000 HIV/AIDS victims medication, resulting in their deaths and over 2 million households now being headed by a child?

I am an African. My family is African. We do not live at home. My family is spread over Canada, Brazil, England and Australia. Fellow Zimbabweans are spread all over the world 

… like oxygen … like the Chinese.

Now are you too feeling just a bit nauseous?

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[1] Attributed to Ruth Gordon Jones (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985), better known as Ruth Gordon, an American actress and writer.

The Twin Towers ... ... of South Africa

In 1994 South Africa underwent momentous change as decades of racist oppression yielded to the sustained force of the human spirit. A bright new day dawned after so many had given up their lives and liberty in the cause of social justice.

limkokwing.netption

The exaltation and sheer joy felt by the whole world was reflected in a face that history will indelibly record, imprinted forever in the sands of time; the face of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.

At that moment South Africa’s new president stood as a colossus, straddling an awestruck planet, ready to hang onto his every word. Lincoln and Gandhi were all but forgotten.

The country was awash with an admixture of joy, exhilaration and hope; so much hope. Hearts and minds trilled in unison as Mandela told the World in his “Never Again” speech that -

“Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud.
Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity's belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all … …

Let there be justice for all.
Let there be peace for all.
Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.
Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfil themselves.
Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.
Let freedom reign.
The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement!”

Now, 16 years later, the great promise has failed to materialize on just about every count. Typical is the “EXPOSED” headline of the Star newspaper to-day. The supporting story details how, just in Gauteng alone, over 780 persons occupy houses purely on account of their connections to government officials. TV showed an otherwise wonderful human being, Dep President Kgalema Motlanthe struggling vainly to explain so many things that only point to a conclusion that we no longer believe in what Mandela so passionately espoused on day one of our independence.

Facts are awkward things. You cannot say you believe in justice and peace for all if we –

·        side with the Burma illegal military regime and pretend that Aung San Suu Kyi does not exist

·        condemn the Dalai Lama

·        provide sustenance, comfort and support for a dictator, Robert Mugabe

·        refuse to condemn rape at the UN

·        refuse to acknowledge the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to  Liu Xiaobo for his stance on human rights

·        … the list is endless but includes murder and rape as pandemics in this country …

·        … over 300, 000 HIV/AIDS victims denied available medication and left to die

·        … public hospitals as death traps … education is a mess ….. etc … etc …

·        having a socio-economic model which has ensured that the rich have got richer, with a new band of politically connected band joining them, whilst the poor have remained poor, inducing Zwelinzima Vavi, President of COSATU, to lament –
"It is this spitting in the face of the poor and insulting their integrity that makes me sick.”

Vavi has pointed out that, symptomatic of this arrogant corrupt culture, is that one member of the new elite was able to spend R700, 000 on a one night party at which “wealth display” was the mode.

Vavi said South African society was “very sick”, because it allowed “these massive inequalities and apartheid to continue in the economy”, while “sitting indifferent when the new elite is on the rampage, humiliating the very motive force of our liberation struggle”.

Vavi said Cosatu was angry: “Today we are here to say we want our freedom back from the elite and all these rogue elements of society. Their party must come to an end…”

These statements, coming from the mouth of the president of the workers of this country, are an unimpeachable reality check. COSATU is an alliance partner of government. There is simply no way that Vavi would say such things unless the stage has been reached where COSATU feels that we have an incredibly bad, intolerable situation.

At independence, personified by Nelson Mandela, South Africa stood as a tower of moral authority. That is gone, now nothing more than a pile of rubble.

The other tower was social justice, as also espoused for by Nelson Mandela. Given our history of apartheid, social justice, in terms of a program of real transformation was the central imperative, overshadowing everything else. That tower, now too, lies in a crumbled heap.

Our leaders, like Bishop Desmond Tutu, touted ubuntu as the mortar to hold our towers up.

“You know when ubuntu is there, and it is obvious when it is absent. It has to do with what it means to be truly human, to know that you are bound up with others in a bundle of life.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“God Has A Dream” © 2004 Published by Doubleday

________________________________________

It is quite apparent, with respect, that both towers were hit, very early on, by two deadly missiles – 1. The arms deal and 2. Racialised affirmative action.

In the process ubuntu was summarily replaced by a new culture, common to and fuelling both missiles - predation.
1. The arms deal        - quite simply, despite the needs of the poor, in particular, we bought arms that we largely don’t need at a cost that will pan out to over R75 billion. What appears to have made the deal attractive was that leaders filled up their pockets in the process. See Sunday Times … “South African politicians and businessmen who pocketed R1-billion from the arms deal are set to be named in a new investigation by Britain's auditing watchdog.”

nuus24.com

There is a huge consensus, including struggle stalwarts like Patrica de Lille and Andrew Feinstein that, right there, the struggle “lost its soul” and we lost our “moral compass”.

2. Affirmative action (AA)     - let us be absolutely clear – affirmative action was/is needed. Those still disadvantaged on account of apartheid needed to be “affirmed”; otherwise social injustice could never be redressed.

What poisoned the thing was that it was racialised, i.e., making race, colour and ethnicity the criteria and thus providing the fuel for the plane that smashed into this tower. The fuel was racist criteria. The missile of delivery – Black Economic Empowerment (BEE).

Despite Nelson’s “never again” commitment, we purposefully, with open eyes and huge enthusiasm, adopted and committed to a model that entrenched the very heart and essence of apartheid culture, dogma and creed –

a)   human beings were to be categorized according to ethnicity;

b)   with Whites to be excluded from jobs and contracts as a matter of course;

c)  with Blacks to be included;

d) and with Coloureds to be included only if they could claim and prove that they were Black.

The nonsensical nature of this model was brought into very sharp relief when –

“In the aftermath of his failure to become the president of the South African Rugby Union (Saru), Mike Stofile said the elections at the annual general meeting held on Friday proved there was no place for black people in South African rugby. Stofile, the former deputy president of Saru, was the only candidate opposing Oregan Hoskins for the top post.”

For Stofile, and the Black leadership that simply failed to condemn him, the problem was that Hoskins was Coloured, even though Stofile was beaten in a democratic process of election. As a Coloured, Hoskins was a “second class” citizen, under AA, just as he had been under apartheid.

In microcosm this incident showed all too brightly that our tower of moral rectitude was completely demolished as, about the same time, Botswana was electing a Coloured as its president and so was White dominated America.

Things really became ludicrous and absurd when Judge Cynthia Pretorius was forced to rule, in June 2008 –

“It is agreed that the Chinese people fall within the ambit of black people in both the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act of 2003 and the Employment Equity Act.”

It would have been a relatively simple matter for our social scientists, helped by IT experts, to configure a spreadsheet with fields that would prove whether or not an individual was still disadvantaged on account of apartheid, so as to qualify for AA.

Because, in reality, Blacks were the most badly affected by apartheid, there can be no doubt that they would still have been the primary beneficiaries of AA. The program would have benefited those who actually needed it. It would have excluded those who didn’t.

And that really was the problem for the new greedy elite. Already rich Black people would not have been entitled to the Rand multi million deals that they now get as a matter of course. It would have been only the truly disadvantaged that would have been beneficiaries of AA and other programs of true “transformation”.
Overnight the "transformation" imperative was hijacked and converted to Black Enrichment.

sowentanlive.co.za

“It is greed that is inspired by the conspicuous consumption of the new elite, the (black economic empowerment) types who blow up to R700 000 on one night on parties ……….” Vavi.

Earlier this month, another “fighting for justice” struggle stalwart, Jay Naidoo, interviewed on the program “Judge for Yourself” had poignantly recounted how betrayed he and others felt when all their noble struggle plans were summarily discarded soon after independence, on account of the ignoble  BEE missile. He was confirming Vavi's claim about "humiliation of the driving force of the struggle".

Oh yes, American brand AA is also race based. The difference, and it is a huge difference, is that it is race based benevolence for the benefit of a Black minority by the White majority, apparently as an act of atonement. No one is prejudiced. No one is corruptly enriched.

What is also really pernicious about racialised AA, is that it is keeping this nation obsessed with racism in all its negative connotations. God alone must know what is going on in the psyche of our children as they grow up bombarded with the “animal farm” messages “black good, white bad, coloured not too good”. It is doubtful that even God knows what Indian and Chinese children must be thinking. How does a child, in its formative years, learn to accept and be proud of what he/she actually is?
Why are we surprised at our horrendous xenophobia problem, with people being burnt alive, when perceptual difference is elevated at the expense of human equality.

 Is it imagined that one day our children will suddenly get up and say, “well from to-day, all will be equal and Blacks will no longer have the advantage as regards jobs and contracts”.

Malaysia is having an incredibly difficult time right now in trying to dump AA. Like South Africa it is a very multi racial/ethnic country. Its Prime Minister is making it clear that AA has to be dumped in the course of nation building. It is hardly surprising that Malaysia now sparkles brightly in this world.

We need to learn from history … our own history. Apartheid South Africa was also one of the most economically corrupt countries in the world, with an elite group of Whites at the trough of greed and corruption. That is why it failed to match Australia in development even though more resourced and having a huge supply of cheap labour.

Let us be clear ... very clear. A culture of categorizing people for the purpose of according and denying rights and privileges, is inherently/utterly evil and is a fundamental driver of other immoral and evil conduct.
Credible voices have now, in effect, confirmed this link. At the very time that BEE was born, leadership was emphatically corrupted in the arms deal.

BEE and the arms deal were the missiles that brought down our twin towers of social justice and moral leadership.

But there is great hope

However there is hope that the towers will be rebuilt.  You see at Polokwane something truly significant, in the context of Africa, happened. The vote of “ordinary branch members” of the ANC removed the most powerful person in the country from power.

In Zimbabwe we never had such a situation. So although, in 1992 when I left Zimbabwe, the country was seemingly far better off then SA is right now (little or no problems as regards health, education, road infrastructure, energy, crime etc) it was already doomed on account of the fact that Mugabe and gang could not be challenged let alone removed.

So leadership in Zimbabwe was never accountable. In South Africa it is. President Zuma appears to be responsive and intent on transformation. He has brought in fresh blood and reshuffled cabinet. Also -

fm.co.za

“South Africa is to embark on a new economic growth path in a bid to create five-million jobs and reduce unemployment from 25% to 15% over the next 10 years.”     Read More ….

Equally important is what may be termed the Vavi Syndrome. It is quite unusual in Africa for a black person of such immense stature to openly criticize leadership and hold it to account so forcefully. It is a breath of fresh air.

Zwelinzima Vavi must be saluted and then given our support. It will not be because we are against government.

This is the best government we can have for now. It will be because our government must be held to account.

People like him are now a precious commodity.

And the Human Rights Commission and the Public Protector's office really need to have a hard look at AA.
 If they do, they will not only be imbued with the pungency of the smell being emitted, and assailing the nostrils of all right thinking human beings,
but will realize how cancerous a thing we have in our midst.

 When in doubt, just tell the truth
Mark Twain

Botswana and Namibia … social justice diamonds

fotosearch.com

The whole world has now heard of “blood diamonds”. Africa has a real bad name on this score, with the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe perceived as now also getting in on the act. Read …

Botswana and Namibia are undoubtedly excluded from complicity. They are respected and rightly  perceived as perhaps the only two really strife free, peaceful and progressive democracies in Africa.

They are both leading producers of diamonds. They are also known for being exceptional tourism destinations.

So here we have, true democracy, the magic of Africa and diamonds. What a heady cocktail mix; enough to make richer countries sit up and take note.

What is not known about them is that they are also both world leaders in an important aspect of social justice; perhaps as scarce and precious as diamonds. Their efforts in this respect shines far too dimly. The World needs to sit up and take note.

You see, after HIV/AIDS, the plight of road crash victims is the biggest international pandemic.

fotosearch.com

By the time you have read these words metal will have torn into flesh, muscles ripped, bones crushed, life extinguished … and the victims, including orphans, simply left to contend with the consequences of an unequal contest.

Over 90% of road crash victims, being passengers, pedestrians, children etc are totally innocent of blame for the crash. A small minority are partially at fault. Despite this, they are left to chase up the guilty driver and fight for compensation from his/her insurer. The gross inequality of the battle is usually reflected in the result. The victim receives no compensation or inadequate compensation as insurers protect profit. For millions the consequences are catastrophic, as mothers are widowed, children orphaned and others disabled for life. Who cares?

This occurs despite the fact that, ever since the first road crash occurred in November 1898, governments have, by and large, forced drivers to purchase insurance supposedly to ensure that victims are compensated in the event of “accidents”. It is called compulsory 3^rd party insurance. The 1^st and 2^nd contracting parties are the driver and the insurer. The 3^rd party is the victim. He/she is the intended beneficiary by law. In practice this has long ceased to be the case. The insurer is the beneficiary and the victim is doubly victimized.

A more stark, brazen, blindingly obvious instance of systemic social injustice, on truly gargantuan scale, is quite difficult to imagine.

HIV/AIDS is largely self inflicted. Despite this sufferers are seen as victims, helped and supported. Persons involved in helping these victims stand to be praised, lauded, eulogized, lionized, even canonized, no doubt, in the fullness of time!

Injury and death in road crashes is largely not self inflicted. However those injured, disabled and orphaned, are not seen as victims, and are given no help. Why? No one is answering the question, let alone even posing it.

Blinded by the injustice of the situation, my profession (legal) has seemingly intervened. As a result we now have a US$ multibillion “contingency fee” sector operating in the US, in particular. Powerful law firms will come to the aid of the hapless victim, and extract compensation from the insurer, provided they share in the proceeds. The courts are then embroiled in contests between lawyers and insurers.

Lawyers want injury and death to convert to as much money as possible, so to serve their profit margins. Insurers want the opposite for the same reason.

Court rooms are the battle ground. Lies become a currency; fraud a vehicle of delivery. Experts sell their “opinions” to the highest bidder. It is a vomitus obscene circus played out long after the relevant injury and its effects are often irretrievable, regardless of how much money is then extracted from the insurer.

M[i] is full of questions. “Is it not true that the effects of road crashes costs some countries more than their total annual aid budgets? Did the UN not get all its members to subscribe a commitment to take urgent remedial measures as early as 1994? Did it not indicate that the medical sector had a critical role to play as regards interventions?”

The only thing I can point to is that Global Road Safety, in particular, has been working hard to reduce road crashes. I am embarrassed when he points out that, at its conference held in Accra, Ghana, in 2006, every single country acknowledged that their road safety programs had failed!

The resultant human suffering is unquantifiable. To all this there is a deafening silence. Human rights agencies are unconcerned. Who cares? Most road crash victims are from the poorer socio-economic sector. That’s why they don’t drive cars.

M observes that it appears that there is a prevailing political correctness that says “take care of HIV/AIDS, but just ignore the second biggest pandemic”. I am at a loss to answer.

Well Botswana and Namibia do care.

They have devised a model in terms of which road crash victims are proactively assisted without avoidable delay, at no cost to the victim. The objective is not to convert injury and death into as much money as possible. I had the great privilege of being involved in devising these schemes.

Festus Mogae

The objective is to redress the social harm accruing on account of injury and death without avoidable delay.

So the medical and social services sectors are first instance partners in the schemes.
It is not funded by diamonds, which both countries have in abundance. It is funded by the culprits – vehicle drivers and owners. Funding is by way of a levy included in the fuel price. That way no driver can ever be uninsured and, correspondingly, all victims are automatically covered! Brilliant!

In addition the cost to drivers is but a fraction of corresponding 3^rd part insurance cover in other countries. You see, there are no profits to serve.

President Pohamba

Take a bow Festus Gontebanye Mogae for having done this when you were President of Botswana. Your Ibrahim Prize was richly deserved.

Take a bow Presodent Hifikepunye POHAMBA of Namibia. Hope you win the prize.

Now, we are wondering if you could just pick up the phone and speak to some of your colleagues in the international leaders club.

Tell them about the biggest diamond of all that you have in your countries … social justice.

[i] See my previous blog post – “my man from Mars”

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