CONVERSATIONS WITH MAWERE
"Invest in the change you want to see"
- Mutumwa Mawere -
Zimbabwe 2008: Rhodes vs Mugabe
Posted on May 04th 2008
As I reflect on the condition of my country of birth in this year of the Lord, I cannot help but attempt to compare two individuals who have had an indelible mark on the contemporary history of Zimbabwe. The history of the country as well as the role played by Cecil John Rhodes, (July 5 1853 - March 26, 1902), in the construction phase of an enduring English civilisation that still haunts President Mugabe, the first and only black President of post colonial Zimbabwe, has been well documented and acknowledged.
What was it about Rhodes that make old Rhodies never die? Rhodes' successors retreated from political office in 1980 and yet 28 years later, the debate in Zimbabwe remains about the continuing influence of his ghost.
President Mugabe is really terrified of the re-emergence of Rhodes to the extent that he has skilfully swallowed up anyone who has sought to change the language of contemporary Zimbabwean politics.
Rhodes died on 26 March, 1902 and yet his works and ideas still live on.
Who was Rhodes? Rhodes was a British-born South African businessman, mining magnate and politician. He was the founder of De Beers and Goldfields and it is instructive that both institutions are still alive and well some 106 years after his death.
Rhodes was a strong believer in colonialism and was the founder of the state of Rhodesia that lasted for some 90 years. Rhodesia was later divided into Northern and Southern Rhodesia that eventually became Zambia and Zimbabwe, respectively.
What was Rhodes' business model? He structured a model that was based on the proletarianisation of the African peasants underpinned by control of the natural resources of the country by his commercial enterprise, British South African Company ("BSAC").
The profits derived from the model were then applied to fund the Rhodes scholarship that is still in existence today.
Was Rhodes more African than Mugabe? I raise this rhetorical question only because I believe it is important to unmask the true nature of Rhodes's model and its philanthropic and creative nature that still today has not be fully digested by many political and non-political African actors.
It is true that if you live in someone's house you can never be free. Rhodes must have understood that one day the natives will rise up and claim their heritage and yet he was not deterred to make an investment in Africa fully knowing that the real inheritors of his wealth would be the very natives that in life he sought to exclude.
Rhodes left a legacy and his remains are still in Zimbabwe. President Mugabe is, in any event, the President of Rhodes' remains and just the other day I was thinking what Rhodes would make of Mugabe's rule.? How would Rhodes have rated Mugabe as a leader?
Rhodes was a pan-Africanist who saw no boundaries and his vision was to make the continent one seamless geographical and economic entity. Through his efforts, a foundation for the modern Zimbabwe was created. At the core of the model was the alienation of natives from their resources and civil rights.
Rhodes took an early interest in agriculture when he joined his brother, Hebert, on his cotton farm in the Umkomaas Valley in Kwa Zulu Natal (KZN) followed by his establishment of Rhodes Fruit Farms in the Stellenbosch district. Rhodes was financed by N M Rothschild in his mining ventures where he profited handsomely from Africa's rich mineral resources. After he first came to Africa, Rhodes supported himself with money lent by his Aunt Sophia.
Rhodes used his wealth and imperial connectivity to pursue his pan-African dream of obtaining mineral concessions from natives. He made friendships with the British Commissioners and through them organised British protectorates over the mineral concession areas via separate but related treaties, conferring both legality and security for mining operations as leverage to attract investors.
Imperial expansion and capital investment were an integral part of Rhodes' model and in post colonial Africa we seem not to have come up with an alternative model to address the challenges that confront the majority poor.
Rhodes viewed the imperial factor as an enabler of capitalist endeavours. He was careful not to allow bureaucrats of the Colonial Office in London to interfere with his model for he wanted settlers and local politicians, like himself, to run it. Rhodes, unlike his evangelical colleagues, used money rather than the bible to buy his way and the colonial office did not have the funds to administer the colonial largesse.
Through the Rudd and Lochner Concessions, Rhodes' companies and associates crystallised the ownership structures that have endured till this day. Armed with the Rudd Concession, in 1889, Rhodes obtained a charter from the British Government for his company, BSAC to run, police and make new treaties and concessions from the Limpopo River to the great lakes of Central Africa.
Rhodes also wanted Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) but was rebuffed like he was in Congo.
Rhodes paid much of the cost of the British Central Africa Commissioner in return for security. Rhodes wanted to expand the British Empire because he believed in the supremacy of the English civilisation. He had no respect for natives and genuinely believed that the human race was fortunate to have English people amongst it.
He entered politics to further his world view that colonialism was more acceptable than imperialism. The settlers were forced by circumstances to create their own self serving and economically secure civilisation with the active support of imperialism.
The model that Rhodes put in place is still relevant today. There is no doubt that he left a legacy and it is important to appreciate that the institutions that Rhodes built still are in existence for free native Africans to inherit if we have a plan for it. After 28 years of independence, it is evident that President Mugabe has no plan for taking the country forward and building from Rhodes' foundation.
In fighting against colonialism, not much thought seems to have been placed on the commercial aspects of the model.
President Mugabe is a sophisticated politician and yet on the eve of his departure from politics, his legacy may never be fully reconciled with the realities of the Zimbabwean condition after 28 years of independence.
Rhodes was a visionary and his successors were imbued with a sense of nationalism that many black Zimbabweans fail to exhibit.
Many more black Zimbabweans have sought refugee in the United Kingdom after independence than the number of white settlers who still call Zimbabwe home. Many of the white Zimbabweans feel more passionate about Zimbabwe than their black counterparts.
Rhodes left a legacy underpinned by a cash model in contrast to President Mugabe who still believes that the revolution is at risk if he were to retire for the simple reason that he has failed to understand the institutional structure that was put in place at the foundation stage that still makes Rhodes relevant even though he is not with us.
Rhodes did not leave BSAC, De Deers and Goldfields bankrupt like what seems to be the case in Zimbabwe. Yes Rhodes was an evil person but his wealth and structures remain in Africa. There are many who call themselves more African than others and yet fail to locate the fruits of their investment in Africa.
I have come to appreciate that anyone who builds a foundation in Africa must love the continent so much because the law of gravity demands that blacks will be the inheritors in the final analysis given the demographics of the continent.
If this is true, then surely people like President Mugabe must appreciate that poverty alleviation strategies must be buttressed by a well thought-out economic and political model.
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Bob please go taneta hapana zvauri kugona kurambira pachigaro coz nyika iri kutoramba ichiparara.enough is enough please Robert go for hw long shall we wait for our freedom.I hate you to the bone.I now have three good years ndapedza kucollege bt i have never worked in my right industry toti kuita here.i hate u once more.Kufa kwako kunofanirwa kurwadza like wat u r doing kuvanhu kumusha.
Donato
Letter to President Mugabe
I would like to start by thanking you for all you have done for this country, ‘no-one could have done it better than you’. You said you would get sleepless nights if you cheated in an election so I hope you stand by your word and hand over power to Tsvangirai who beat you despite the attempts of some wicked men around you. Remember, non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as cooperation with good, Martin Luther King, Jr. Just hand over power peacefully and you will leave with a respectable legacy.
There are so many things which are threatening your respectable legacy…The failure to uphold or respect the constitution through manipulation of the judiciary, manipulation of the media, a partisan state security apparatus, use of violence, corruption to name just a few. You had 28 years to deal with all these problems and you failed dismally, I don’t see what you can improve in the last few years of your life. You could have nipped all these problems in the bud from the Willowgate scandal, Paweni, GMB scandals etc but you wrapped all the offenders in wool so the buck stops with you.
You are a teacher by profession but the way you treat teachers with disdain is despicable. They are the backbone of the education system and deserve a living wage yet you have made them the laughing stock of the community and you have put them at the mercy of your brainwashed thugs especially in the rural areas. You have taken us 28 years back in terms of educational gains due to fleeing of teachers , inadequate resources and half backed ideas such as ZIMSEC and universal uniforms by Headman Chigwedere.The universities are almost always closed and the lecturers have gone , you don’t care because you send your kids to USA, UK, Malaysia, Australia.
David Parirenyatwa is a medical doctor by profession and so was his father, the first black Zimbabwean doctor hence the naming of the biggest referral centre in the country. He has disgraced himself and his fellow professionals by violating the Oaths of Hippocrates (if he took one) by pursuing victims of political violence into the hospitals. He has also contributed to the haemorrhage of medical professionals from the country…doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, medical scientists, dental practitioners, you name it by turning a blind eye to their concerns. There is nothing in the hospitals…drugs, food, linen and yet they hound the NGO’s away with the current HIV ,AIDS and multi-drug resistant TB problems to deprive ordinary people of ARV’s .Most of the ministers are not well have what are called ‘goodbyes’ in street lingo i.e. enlarged lymph nodes especially just below the ears ( check them out on tv)but they get away with it because they have the foreign currency. What about the man in the street?
Staying with your Ministers, where in the world has there been a discovery of deposits of ‘pure diesel’? At first I thought it was someone playing a practical joke but then I saw the pictures …Didymus Mutasa, Sekeramayi, Mohadi and Parirenyatwa sitting on a reed mat with shoes off and some few guys in traditional regalia, priceless. Did they not do basic geography at school and learn about crude oil? But these guys believe in spirit media so much they had ‘victory rituals’ and Chigwedere is said to be a sangoma. The point is , these are old men whose grey matter is gone and they are clutching at straws. They will do anything to hang on to power and they have managed to distance themselves from the people which is your downfall Mr. President…Your speeches and actions don’t address the real needs of the people. Take the Independence speech, people wanted to hear about results but you talked about dressing ‘ kusiya maguvhu panze…’ what has that to do with the country.
And you go on and on about land…Yes the principle was right but the methodology exposed lack of planning and lack of leadership. You used the land issue as a political tool and it worked for some time but now it’s a ‘tiny dot’ in the ocean of problems facing Zimbabwe. You grabbed a couple of farms and so did your friends and that turned a bread basket into a basket case. Drive along the Harare-Chinhoyi road and you will see it for yourself… farms and silos between Banket and Chinhoyi lying empty now but used to be a very productive. People have nothing to eat because of your ad hoc redistribution of land and failure to make things right after having numerous enquiries into the land issue. I recall a song by Oliver Mtukudzi ‘Murimi munhu’, you can have the land but you reap what you sow, you need genuine farmers not cellphone farmers.
Yet another song comes to mind…’Tsime nderenyu asi musauraye dafi ,tsime rinopwa iri’ by Hosiah Chipanga.You have become a racist Mr. President despite all your talk at independence. You have hounded the white people of Zimbabwe for standing up to you and for choosing a party other than yours. Yes, we have some memories of bad things but you are becoming more like Hitler in your persecution of other people. They are Zimbabweans whether you like it or not and deserve every right and opportunity like everyone else. I am surprised by the likes of Bright Matonga…he spews so much hate for white people yet he is married to one. Mr President, you have let us down.
I watched your interviews and I can easily conclude they lack substance. Take for example the Africa Channel interview with Josh Makawa…absolute hogwash. You think you are running a tuck-shop ? The problem with you is you have managed to get away with everything so far and you have lost all responsibility for the people but you shall be made accountable. The UK holds weekly PM’s question time with journalists from all over the world, so do most democracies. Not Shefu Mugabe…anodashurwa majournalists, degrees in violence !! You take the people for granted…eat potatoes, no totems, aliens, sellouts etc is all we hear from you. Not about how people are coping with all the economic difficulties. You are a heartless man.
I could go on and on but I know you won’t listen at all. I hope you read your farewell speech by Geoff Nyarota and you will deliver it soon for a dignified exit because you makadashurwa Gushungo nechematama ( trounced by Tsvangirai). You are in that age group which is susceptible to other-wise harmless ailments such as flu so think about your very young children. Don’t you want to see them grow , take the chance old man. Look at Fidel Castro, almost gone like Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat, Joshua Nkomo, and Pope John Paul II…that’s your age group. If you don’t want a dignified exit think of Mobutu Sese Seko, Kamuzu Banda, Idi Amin…that will be your legacy…DISASTER !
I'm afraid i have to disagree with the tone of this article. This to me sounds to me like an emotional analysis. Your passion for free enterprise does not consider the effects on society in the practice of entreprenurial activity. The mechanics of Rhodes' schemes become unpalatable and intollerable if they result in native casualties. That is the reason why most of Africa rose against such exclussion from economic & political relevance.in the case of Zimbabwe, the era of Smith sought to sustain the Rhodes model but with heavy casualties. If you look at the American model you will see why there's need to go head-on against these practices. Consider the attitude of corporate america towards "social responsibility". the whole issue surrounding food prices, social equity,fair trade,etc are the unfortunate effects of such models as those championed by Rhodes.
Your praise of Rhodes' model without paying attention to he consequences is very irresponsible for a black african & businessman.
These white folk need to tow the line & learn to co-exist with black africans.
Thanks for your comments. It appears that you did not fully understand the import of my argument. In the interests of debate, it would be beneficial for you to present a counter argument so that we can mutually benefit. I do not believe that it is a crime for anyone to be passionate about free enterprise and I would expect you to hold on to your views without any apology. We cannot deny the pioneering role of Rhodes in helping to create a white settler business community in Zimbabwe. His foundation model is still intact and has served his the target beneficiaries well. The difference with the post colonial construction is that most of the victims are black and it is instructive that a large number of Mugabe's perceived constituency has deserted the country for greener pastures. Rhodes welcomed white settlers into Rhodesia and created a state to serve his own people. The challenge for any post colonial state is to deliver value to the majority. We cannot say that giving land and mines to blacks will address the poverty challenges that confront the country. We must accept that the post colonial state has failed to live up to its expectation. We can choose to blame the whole white world but I do not believe that this will solve the problem. The future does not belong to Rhodes but surely we must draw lessons from his enduring legacy and try to write our own future on our own terms while accepting that there are some fundamental principles that need to be adhered to if the country has to move forward. I have yet to be convinced that the state is necessarily a better agent for transformation than individuals. If black Zimbabweans have been voting with their feet then we must think seriously about the conditions that need to be in place to make the come back. In drawing a comparison between Rhodes and Mugabe, all I was trying to do is to highlight the fact that after only 28 years in office, Mugabe's administration has failed to provide the kind of leadership that the country needs. Rhodes never wanted blacks to have the right to vote because he was frightened of what impact they would have as a united force. If "Old Mutual" can exist in post colonial Africa I am sure that the starting point beyond the simplistic ideological debate must be the creation of a new mutual. Rhodes is dead and there is no reason to locate our future in denigrating him but it is important to reflect on his thinking and deeds. If we can create a better society that can feed itself than the absurd situation of Zimbabwe having to import maize from Zambia produced by evicted farmers. The quick transformation of Zambian agriculture after Kaunda's misguided policies must tell us about what works and what doesnt. The West can afford to subsidise its farms and Africa must accept that a new thinking is urgently required and the country requires economic generals in as much as it may require military generals. We all now have the right to determine our future and many Africans find themselves being denied the right to assert their own rights. It is important that we engage in a constructive debate rather than name calling because this can be counter productive. Your views must and should be respeced in as much as mine. Lets disagree without necessarily being disagreeable.
Well both of these individuals were dictators.The other was a dictator with a dream of economic prosperity for his beneficiaries and the other is a dictator with a dream of staying in power at all costs
Whos said dictatorship is always bad anywhere?
The comment by BetterZim from Botswana above is both succinct and insightful. It simply draws us to the inevitable conclusion that Rhodes was better to his 'people' than Mugabe has been. Rhodes had a model (political & economic) that clearly delivered value to the generality of the white settler. By contrast, not only is Mugabe's model blurred - the value addition to the black majority in Zimbabwe is also not discernible! ZANU PF's economic model, whatever it is, does not appreciate the fact that a country requires CAPITAL AND TECHNOLOGY in addition to raw materials and labour. The question is, where does the capital come from? It comes from international financiers and investors - the same actors that ZANU PF and Mugabe try hard to alienate. Like it or don't, Zimbabwe must still look to the very West that it castigates for capital if it is to move foward and find its place among world players. We may want to say we are looking to the East, but bear in ming that the East itself is looking West! Besides, wise men CAME FROM the East, they did not GO TO the East!
To sum it up, Mr Mawere has a very valid argument that Rhodes has a clear political and economic model that delivered value to his white subjects. His establishment promoted increased economic activity and productivity via the free enterprise, with an enabling environment. His economic model was underpinned by CAPITAL. Simba from South Africa does not seem to have an argument, or is it he has failed to express it???
Rhodes versus Mugabe comparison, Simba’s commends and Mawere’s reply is intriguing. We have been served by Mr. Mawere’s bowl of emotions on other installments but on this one, my dear Simba, I find it merely analytical from a superficial economic perspective though void of social and political dimensions required in edifying an ideal national industrialised entity. Rhodes did not pilot a country but presided upon self aggrandizements of some few individuals who happened to be whites hence his contributions were antinationalist. An Ideal national edifice does not allow slavery of one race by another. Rhodes did not have majority elected parliamentary consensus to propel his feudalist policies that made the Rhodesians economically strongest in the world. Mr. Mawere would agree that exploitative mining, agriculture and construction of dams, roads and canals by the enslaved black labour force were not out of capitalists’ models but racist and feudalistic appropriations. Rhodes enjoyed what was then the “international” trade support for Rhodesia. These and other aspects will diametrically position Rhodes as a colonial master. My mind is awfully bamboozled to make believe that Robert Mugabe, one of the distinguished nationalist liberators, who introduced majority one man one vote, free public health and education, buoyed literacy rate to about 96% from a number fraction, constructed institutions of higher learning, gave back stolen land to the majority, advocated for indigenization of the economy, goad for native ownership of all mining industrial concessions, can be gleefully named for comparison with the evil Rhodes was to humanity, NAMED, by non other than fellow african products of Mugabe’s magnanimity. If it is to compare Mugabe I will chose Mandela for the slot. Africa is endowed with natural resources including a true noble human heart. Mugabe and Mandela gave their comfortable intellectual life to liberating Africans from Rhodesian oppression, thinking and influence. In their early political life, Mugabe and Mandela were named terrorists and got incarcerated for their belief that Africans CAN. Mugabe and Mandela, after a protracted struggle, led their nations to independence and formed new independent nations for everyone. Mandela’s emphasis was to be based on equality for mankind by RECOGNISING the black majority of Africans in the economic mainstreams of their nations. Mugabe’s emphasis was to be based on EMPOWERING the black majority of Africans in the same economic mainstream of their nations. Mugabe and Mandela never promised any capitalist model for the emancipated blacks but believe that only these natives if given the necessary tools to self-develop they will triumph. The economic models for Africa lie with Africans today, thanks to Mugabe and Mandela and not Rhodes and Rhodesia. Let us Africans chose our own paths for development without negative external influence.
Mutumwa Dziva Mawere (born January 11, 1960 in Bindura, Zimbabwe), is an African business executive, pioneer, financier, banker and entrepreneur best known as the founder and Chairman of Africa Resources Limited ("ARL"). He is known for having built one of the most powerful and influential corporations in Zimbabwe's history
Nhai Gushugo madireyi kudaro?
Ini ndaingonzwa nevanhu nerunyerekupe!
Asi handina kuzvibvuma!
Asi ndakazozvionera pamhino sefodya!
Vanhu vaindimisa mumugwagwa vondinyevera!
Vaiti tanzwa nako kadhara kema-degree ezvibhakera!
Nhai Gushugo madirei kudaro!
Vaindizevezera kuti Gushugo oteura ropa ravanhu!
Vamwe vaizhamba vachiti Mugabe ovhutsira vanhu vapenyu kuMatebeleland!
Rimwe inzwi ndokusvika richiti vamwe vakakandwa mumigodhi yakadzika!
Mumigondi iyi vakamwira magopwe ndiye sarai mudye!
Uye zvainzi Gushugo obvutira vanhu chingwa pamiromo!
Shoko rimwe rakabuda roti, Gushugo odzinga MaZimbabweans muZimbabwe.
Nhai Mugabe wadirei kuramba uchidaro?
Zvaitasei kuti musununguri wevanhu nhasi ave musungi!
Wairwira vanhu nhasi ndiye worwisa vanhu!
Waichemerwa nevanhu nhasi ndiwe wochemedza nyika yose!
Waipa vanhu zvokudya nhasi ndiye wotorera zvokudya!
Muvaki nhasi ndiye muputsi.
Ndaiti moyo wako wakachena semukaka asi wapindika ukasviba setara.
Waitovedza panorwadza nhasi wava Nyati inodhuvhura.
Gushugo iwe, zvamava Shato inotema nepakati pemusoro.
Rovambira zvaro rinobwanya nemafupa!
Moita wechipere chinobhabhandura nebhonzo remusoro!
Nhai Bob, ko wadireyi kudaro!
Mweya weChimurega makavigepi Gushugo?
Rudo rwenyu rwapinduka rukava ruvengo sei?
Ko nguo dzegwai makarasirepiko?
Ko maiva ngwena yaiziva zvayaiita pamaikweva njira muchisiya munhu!
Nhai Robert wadireyi kudaro?
Ko motonga nepfumo, nhai Changamire?
Pfumo renyu rakatesverwa serurumi rwenyoka!
Pfumo renyu rakatsvuka kuti piriviri!
Pfumo renyu robaya munhu wese richisiya atonhora!
Kana riribakatwa renyu rangova jekawacheka!
Nhai baba Vachatungwa madirei kudaro!
Nyika yaifashaira nemaguta, yava yenzara!
Nyika yeuchi nemukaka yavaEgipita yeuranda!
Nyika yaidadisa yonyadzisa!
Nyika yaitapira seuchi yovava segavakava!
Nyika yaiva yamafaro yava yemisodzi!
Nhai murume waGrace wadirei kudaro!
Gudo guru peta mwise kuti vaduku vakuremekedze!
Zvino imwi wenyu mapetenura, kuti MDC ione kuti wakareba zvakadini!
Mandungu naMapurisa ava eyi mumigwagwa yeZimbabwe?
Ndenge dzehondo muchadenga dzava dzeyi munyika inorunyararo?
Ko chikepe chizere nepfuti nenyere munodzidini.
Ko zvino chichapinda nepi chikepe chenyu, Durban vachiramba?
KuAngola, Mozambique, zvimwe vachabvuma.
Ko zvakabuda musarudzo ya29 March 2008 maisirei muhapwa?
Ko kuState House muchiri kuiteyizve, kwaZvimba makapisa dzimba here?
Nhai Sekuru vaLeo madireyi kudaro?
Ko muchiri mambo waaniko?
Vamunotungamirira ndivanani nhai baba vaChatungwa.
Pachigaro ichocho makagadzwa naniko nhaiVaShe.
Kovaranda venyu ndevapiko nhai musharukwa?
Vatongwi venyu ndevapi nhai mambo iwe?
Mitemo yenyu inotevedzwa nani nhai Mutenhesanwa?
Nhai mwana waBona wadireyi kudaro?
Wotonga zvegangara?
Wotonga zvemakanya.
Wotonga zvenharo!
Wongotonga chete chero vasingadi ivo vatongwi vacho.
Nhai Changamire iwe madirei kudaro.
NASIBANENGI DUBE, by email