Destructive Rule Of Fear

AMONGST the most pronounced causes of Zimbabwe’s catastrophic economic circumstances is that its government, in general, and its economic arms in particular, endlessly seek to manage and control the country as a whole, its people,

and especially its economy, by an endless recourse to dire threats which provoke (or are intended to provoke) quivering fear amongst all that are components of the economy.

The governmental authorities clearly have a deep-seated conviction of their absolute omnipotence, that conviction matched only by a unequivocal belief that achievement of their objectives is best achieved by never-ending fulmination against those that government is convinced are deliberately undermining them.

Without according any consideration whatsoever as to the actual causes of Zimbabwean ills, and blatantly unwilling even to consider that they themselves, or their policies, are the causes of the ills, they attribute total culpability to others. Having done so, they then seek to motivate changes of actions by the allegedly culpable by unceasing threats to demonic retribution.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines a bull as being one "who uses strength or power to coerce others by fear", resorting to persecution, oppression (physically or morally), by threat or superior force. Today, a more abridged, but markedly more indisputable description, of "bully" would simply be "Zimbabwean government".

After government set the economy upon its downward, destructive path by its succumbing to the threatening, bullying demands of war veterans in 1997, yielding to their blackmail demands for compensation and pensions far beyond the country’s means, government not only had to divert from itself blame for the consequential cataclysmic economic developments, but having imputed fault to others, then had to strategise to achieve a reversal of the economic decline. This it did by resorting to other grievously ill-considered policies and tactics, each of which not only failed to achieve positive transformation, but massively worsened the state of the economy. As each measure failed, and intensified the economic collapse, government unhesitatingly deluded itself that fault lay wholly with others, and sought to address that by resorting to ever-intensifying, strongly bullying, and recrimination of the falsely perceived guilty culprits for the decimation of the economy. It bared its fangs, snarled, growled, bristled and continuously threatened revenge and reprisals. To a very major extent, it focused its ire and fury upon much of the international community, and especially upon the former colonial power, Britain, upon most of the other countries of the European Union, and upon the USA, and –– of course –– upon the leaders of those countries.

But it did so devoid of any credibility and, therefore, whilst not halting its ongoing diatribes against those imaginary enemies, it also had to find others to blame. Progressively it cast its evil eye upon whites in general, and particularly upon commercial farmers, industrialists, retailers and others of the business community, and upon multinationals.

It threatened, with ever-greater intensity, the nationalisation and expropriation of businesses. It legislated extremely unrealistic, and greatly oppressive, laws seeking to achieve near total regulation and control of all facets of the economy, with myopic oblivion to the disastrous consequences upon the survival and continued operations of the targetted economic enterprises. Each and every one of its measures proved to be wholly counterproductive, but government was incapable, or unwilling, to acknowledge, that the adverse consequences of its excessive regulation were a direct consequence of that regulation.

Instead, it intensified its castigation of the private sector, contending deliberate circumvention of the regulation with the deliberate intent to bring the economy to its knees, to enrich the private sector stakeholders at the expense, and to the prejudice, of the populace, and to satisfy the spuriously alleged international masterminds of the economic Armageddon.

These disastrous actions of government pinnacled when, in June 2007, the Minister of Industry and International Trade, "Tsunami" Obert Mpofu, undoubtedly motivated by the president and cabinet, legislated price controls. This was done with contemptuously blatant indifference to the proven inability of price controls to address the economic problems, and the incontrovertible consequences of intensifying those problems. Within days, the minister created the National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC) to complement the draconianly destructive constraints upon prices, headed by one Godwills Masimirembwa.

Immediately, government, strongly reinforced by NIPC’s Masimirembwa, applied intensively bullying threats against any and all who failed to comply, in the entirety, with the price control laws and NIPC directives, and reinforced those bullying threats by gargantuanally excessive, punitive actions against perceived offenders. Businessmen were peremptorily jailed, and others harshly fined, whilst officials invaded businesses with extreme aggression, such as to provoke great fear within the business community.

But the results were not to curb and contain prices, and to halt the spiralling, endlessly surging inflation. Instead, most basic commodities, essentials, and other goods ceased to be available. And this was not in any manner as an attempt by business to frustrate government, NIPC and the legislation’s stated intents. It was naught but the inevitable consequence that businesses could not afford to sell goods without attaining a fair return on capital employed, for then the businesses could not survive. This is a fundamental precept of economic survival, but government and NIPC could not, or would not, recognise basic fact.

Instead, because of businesses inability to import or produce goods, in the absence of operational viability, scarcities became greater and greater. Inevitably, this fuelled a thriving, vigorous black market, wherein prices were markedly greater than they would have been in a decontrolled formal sector. Inflation soared upwards, and concurrently, as businesses contracted, unemployment intensified, as did the "brain drain" of Zimbabwe’s valued skilled to neighbouring territories.

But with the obduracy and dogmatism that are the characteristics of the Zimbabwean government, zero recognition was given to facts, and instead there has been a continuing intensifying, scathing assault upon the private sector.

In the last few weeks, the president, Minister Mpofu, and NIPC’s Godwills Masimirembwa have all been vocally vitriolic against the business community, and have with increased intensity threatened retribution and intensely punitive actions.

The result has not been to improve the lot of consumers, and of the economy, but to bring about the closure of yet more enterprises, the contraction of many others, increased unemployment, discouragement of critically needed investment, further economic collapse, lesser revenues to an already extremely bankrupt fiscus, and ever-greater hardships and suffering for the populace. Government’s continuous usage of fear as an instrument of misguided policy implementation is accelerating the destruction of Zimbabwe.Zim independent.Erich Bloch

Refugee conundrum

IT WOULD be churlish not to sympathise with the group of foreign refugees who had been camped on the roadside outside the Lindela repatriation centre on the West Rand since before the weekend, despite the fact that they are clearly in the wrong.

What may seem irrational behaviour — the 600-strong group was refusing to provide the personal details required for them to be issued with temporary identity documents — is entirely understandable in the context of the trauma such victims of the recent xenophobic attacks have experienced.

Officials from the home affairs department, representatives of the South African Human Rights Commission and even the immigrants’ own legal representatives have explained that the documentation is intended to benefit them and does not invalidate their refugee status, but such is the level of fear and frustration that the group was no longer open to logical argument.

However, that does not justify the department’s threat to arrest and deport those who did not vacate the area voluntarily. Apart from the likelihood that heavy-handed action against legitimate asylum seekers would violate both international law and various treaties to which SA is a signatory, the circumstances surely called for more carrot than stick. The government has gone to some lengths to promote the concept of ubuntu in SA — this is an ideal opportunity to put it into practice.

The Lindela situation is, in any event, the outcome of yet another policy failure on the part of the government, which has been shown up repeatedly in the aftermath of the xenophobic attacks. After years of denying that the influx of refugees from other African countries might pose a problem, refusing to seek help from international agencies, and worsening the situation through an ill-considered diplomatic approach to Zimbabwe in particular, the state was ill-prepared for the social implications of the attacks on foreigners living in SA’s townships.

The response to the initial emergency in Gauteng was too slow, allowing the xenophobic virus to spread throughout the country. Emergency measures were eventually taken, but there seems to have been little attempt to think beyond the short to medium term. There is still a policy vacuum, and the result is not only incidents like the standoff at Lindela, but ongoing xenophobia that reinforces the fears of those who were attacked in the first wave of violence and are being asked to go back to the same communities.

The government is right to emphasise reintegration, and there have been examples — Cape Town’s Masiphumelele township near Fish Hoek stands out — where this has been highly successful. But it cannot be the only option other than repatriation, since there is a sizable number of refugees who are justified in refusing to consider either.

The government needs to swallow its pride and allow international organisations such as the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees to play a bigger role in helping find a long-term solution. If that means asking the UN to establish a permanent facility for refugees who cannot be either reintegrated or repatriated, the decision needs to be taken sooner rather than later. There is no shame in admitting mistakes, as long as something is done to rectify them.

Endless Economic Implosion

GOVERNMENT'S unceasing recourse to one economic destruction measure after another belatedly forces an inevitable conclusion that, albeit for some inexplicable motive, it is resolutely determined to destroy the Zimbabwean economy in its entirety.



No one can be that stupid as to resort to one catastrophic economic policy after another to the extent that the Zimbabwean Government has done over the last 11 years, unless it is with the deliberate intent to achieve a total implosion of the entirety of the economy.

With actions ranging from extreme profligacy, governmental spending being continuously at astronomic levels beyond the nation’s means, to the destruction of agriculture which was the foundation of a resilient and growing economy, or the constantly intensifying regulation of the economic, stifling not only growth, but continuance of business, Government has steadfastly and progressively emaciated the economy.


Growth


Whether it was the alienation of a once friendly and highly supportive international community, to the demolition of an investment conducive and welcoming environment, Government has constructed every conceivable obstacle and hurdle to economic development and growth.

Whether it was not only the total failure to contain corruption, but instead impliedly to condone it (save if an opportunity to oppress political opponents), or a pronounced disregard for human and property rights and the fundamental precepts of law and order, Government has unhesitatingly done so to its own ends and to the prejudice of the populace, and of the economy in particular.

*Constantly the population as a whole, other than the favoured few, and the world at large, has anticipated that eventually government would be healed of its economic myopia, and would see the error of its ways, working vigorously to repair the damage it has done, and to develop the economy that Zimbabwe could have, and that it deserves. But that hope has proven to be devoid of any foundation or substance.

Instead, the foolhardy, implosive actions not only continue unabated, but at an exponentially intensifying pace.

*Last Week government demonstrated yet again that either it is oblivious to realities, or that it is so drunk with its belief in its unbounded omnipotence, that it inserted yet further nails into Zimbabwe’s economic coffin (There may be scarcities of maize meal, bread, flour, sugar, salt, cooking oil, soap and detergents, candles and matches, electricity, petroleum, medications, and much, much more, but government never seems to run out of nails to drive into that coffin!).

It announced yet another extension of the term of the National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC), completely ignoring the irrefutable proof of the absolute failure of price controls to curb inflation.

After more than a year, inflation has soared to a world record 9,2 million per cent!

All that price controls have achieved were to create scarcities, for businesses cannot survive without profits.


Unemployment


Instead, virtually the only source of essential commodities has been in the black market, at prices very markedly greater than would have been the case if available in the formal sector at market-force driven prices.

Concurrently, many businesses were forced to cease operations, whilst others had to downsize considerably.

The resultant was further massive unemployment, and severe contraction of the economy.

But Government is unwilling to recognise the facts, and instead constantly accuses the business sector of profiteering and exploiting the embattled populace, and threatens dire actions against alleged profiteers. (If the price escalations are machiavellian profiteering actions, presumably the first of government’s dire actions of retribution will be against its own Ministry of Home Affairs, which has raised the charge for passports to $1 trillion, and then against the State-controlled media, newspaper prices having risen over 10 weeks from $2 billion to $80 billion!

Thereafter government will undoubtedly focus upon its telecommunication services for their imposing equally great price increases, upon its health services for their increases in charges, and upon many other parastatals and other government departments.

Shame on them for profiteering and for so grievously afflicting the already sufferingpopulation)!

*Concurrently, last week, government announced that it had completed a "preliminary audit" which had identified that there were more than 400 companies in Zimbabwe with British shareholders, and over 300 other companies with shareholders in other European Union countries, and that in the event that threatened sanctions against Zimbabwe include mandatory disinvestment from those companies, government will immediately take over those shareholdings, either for facilitation of its Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment policies, or to sell to investors from "friendly countries".


Immediate freeze


Not only is the statement devoid of any comment as to the basis, terms and conditions on which government will "take-over" the investments, but in addition it has undoubtedly motivated each and every one of those companies to put an immediate freeze on any further investment, development or expansion, and deterred the foreign shareholders from providing any lines of credit or other foreign currency support to their Zimbabwean companies.

Moreover, coming in succession after the mass and, in many instances, most unjust expropriation of farms, and the threatened expropriation under the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act of other companies, this action sends yet another message to potential investors the world over that Zimbabwe cannot be trusted to respect
property rights and that, therefore,
Zimbabwe is not an acceptable investment destination.

The harm that government causes the economy through its dogmatic and obdurate contempt for the fundamental principles of economics, and its increasingly great disregard for justice and for international norms of integrity in business, and by its petulant and juvenile reactions to the statements and actions of those that it perceives to be Zimbabwe’s enemies, is achieving naught but ever-greater stress, suffering, malnutrition, homelessness and distress to the very people that government is supposed to care for and serve.

It is also triggering an ever-greater exodus of Zimbabweans to other countries, depriving the country of the very skills needed to achieve recovery and wellbeing.

Erich Bloch