Mutumwa Mawere

In Marxian political economy, class power, under a capitalist system, refers to a situation where a minority in society controls the means of production.

In colonial Africa, the control of resources was vested in the white settler community and, therefore, the majority of the native population was forced to eke a living from marginal resources that they were condemned to by the system.

The social classes that have evolved over the years in Africa have been caused by the fundamental structure of work and property.

The social classes with greater power naturally attempt to cement their own ranking above the lower classes in the social hierarchy.

It may also be argued that the stratification of societies is not necessarily a bad development but is intrinsic to the structure of any human society and to that extent is ineradicable.

The post-colonial era has generated a new class of natives whose values, beliefs and principles are no different from those held by the former setter class.

Although classified as black, this new breed of powerful Africans to whom the majority looks for leadership is less cohesive and organized as the founding fathers of colonial Africa.

Knowledge of the interplay between race and class is critical in informing choices about what kind of Africa we want to see.

Even in post-colonial Africa, class is a key feature of life and one's life can be determined and shaped by it.

We often assumed that race alone determined one's class position.

Although race-based social stratification was rejected as a basis of a sustainable social organization, the post-colonial era has failed to diminish the inherited class differences.

On the contrary, the poor remain poor with no significant movement in terms of reducing the frontiers of poverty.

What kind of Africa do we want to see? A non-stratified society where every individual has a roughly equal social standing in most situations? Would it be healthy for Africa to have no classes?

What would be the incentive for people to excel if at the end of the day they will occupy the same ground?

Class differences are healthy and inevitable in any human civilization.

Poverty will not be reduced simply be eliminating the affluent classes.

Class power that is a consequence of a social contract that allows for mobility is not necessarily a bad outcome.

As we look back at our past, we have no choice but to put ourselves in the minds of the white settler class. What occupied their minds? Was it hate?

Even the naïve settler would have known that one day the natives would rise up? If this were common cause, why then would they have bothered to build an infrastructure to support a lifestyle that was not sustainable?

We have to understand our heritage in its proper context and content. At the time of colonialism, natives were not sufficiently organized to defend rights that were not legally defined.

The concepts of property and work during the pre-colonial era were completely different from the ones the settlers were accustomed to.

If native civilization was organized in a similar manner to the one the settlers were used to, it would have been difficult to displace natives.

The mineral resources remained in their native form with little or no organization to explore and exploit them.

Education did play a part in attempting to bridge the gap between native and white settler civilizations.

However, access to education was not universal and the few who managed to access it automatically assumed new power positions in society.

Although education can play a critical role in removing class barriers it is not a perfect instrument.

The white settler community was homogenous but had its own drivers of change. These drivers of economic change understood that the source of their power had to be underpinned by a market system. They had no one to look up to as a guarantor of a life style they were accustomed to.

Such a system could not guarantee a seamless transfer of power as each generation had an obligation to prove itself.

A market system can be rewarding for the daring and innovative.

Class power in a market system has its own peculiar features.

It must be based on market performance and on the cardinal principle of exchange based on the participation of willing parties.

Such power can be transmitted from generation to generation as long as value is exchange through a system intermediated by cash.

If the market is willing to pay for the goods produced and sold then the seller becomes rich.

In doing so, the seller becomes powerful because he/she has more degrees of freedom in terms of choices.

An Africa that works for all has to inspire those that are less fortunate. This can best be done through the intermediation of the market.
Human history has not produced any better system than one that ensures that resources are allocated through a market system.

Although class has a direct consequence on lifestyle i.e. tastes, preferences and a general style of living, there is nothing inevitable in a market-based system.

A poor person can scale the heights in as much as an affluent person can fall.

If the market system cannot guarantee anything to participants, it must necessarily be a system that should inform our choices as move forward.

Property only has meaning in an environment in which the rule of law is respected.

Equally, human beings can sell their time in a system that respects the law.

As a founding member of Africa Heritage Society www.africaheritagerivonia.com, I knew that Africa's better days could only come if we invested in the kind of society that we want to see.

This can only be best done if we take time to understand the human mind and what inspires it.

We knew that if the powerful people behaved as if they were powerless then the powerless would have no hope.

The power must use their power so that those who do not have power can feel the difference.

Class difference can, therefore, be healthy for any society.

What is needed is that we invest in transparent systems that allow people to move up and down the opportunity ladder of life.