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WHY THE 51% INDEGINISATION IS FLAWED
Since the start of the year and on the 25^th of March debate has raged about the current indigenisation effort supported by some inside this coalition government calling for the seizure of controlling stake in established businesses particularly mining ostensibly to empower the previously disadvantage blacks. However this proposal is flawed for many reasons but its main problem is that it does help this cause but actually negates it since forcibly taking companies or nationalisation does not change the character of the current status quo but only replaces it with a politically correct colour- black. In fact this whole effort could just be a ruse and racist attempt by the cabal of the previous regime to force through the acquisition massive amounts of wealth for next to nothing. It is imperative to note that in fact there is no dispute about the need to indigenise but it is finding the middle ground that has been proving to be difficult and causing much consternation inside the country. Persons supporting this controversial law often claim that white or foreign owned companies are reluctant to incorporate blacks into the mainstream economy, that this will be the best approach to answer the negative stereotype of the black man in the eyes of other races. In addition they claim since the resources, particularly minerals in the case of mining companies, belong to the indigenous people hence they should not be asked to pay for anything so goes the argument. It is instructive to note that most of the reasons proffered always seem to lack sound economic reasons, reasons which should normally carry the day if the program is to be approved objectively. It is much akin to the controversial land reform program; a program carried in out nearly similar circumstances where the sudden desire to empower the landless blacks overrode all genuine economic concerns about the likely consequences. To this day the economy has not fully recovered from this disastrous decision and one would hope that the experience of this process should at least help leaders to come to sound a decision despite political differences. There is also an absurd assertion that the resources particularly minerals already belong to locals by virtue of being underneath our territory and indeed some seem to think that this actually makes sense. However it is one thing to know that you have these minerals and it is totally a different matter to extract them and that is why a country like DRC for instance has the most sought minerals but is still poor yet countries like Japan and South Korea are without much natural resource endowments yet count as some the richest nations in the world. The latter two have the technology, expertise and most importantly the capital to harness these resources and this is where this indigenisation drive should be aiming at building on skills, technology and knowledge transfer. Proponents of this controversial law often charge that those who oppose this particularly the black critics often suffer from an inferiority complex and just want to perpetuate the depiction of the black man as an employee or slave of the superior white. However this all subterfuge designed to camouflage the growing list of blacks who have made it in their respective fields, Strive Masiyiwa a very successful entrepreuener in the telecommunication industry, Mutumwa Mawere, the bankers from the early 2000s and these have dominated fields previously dominated by foreign owned companies. One other significant change that has occurred though rarely noticed is the incorporation of blacks in senior management structures and their now common appointment to boards of directors. In fact this is one way empowerment has been known to be successful elsewhere. In fact most foreign owned companies now actually employ locals to the most powerful posts in their companies and naturally this process actually helps to bridge the knowledge and skills gap one key aspect towards fully empowerment .In fact the South African broad based economic empowerment (BBEE) model actually sets out to achieve this among other things and this speaks quite a lot about how much has been achieved so far though no one seems to think this is an achievement. However this may not be entirely surprising when one notices the unclear stance on this indigenisation vis- a- vis the sale of controlling stake in Ziscosteel  to an Indian firm Essar yet the laws appear to indicate that this is unlawful thus creating this theatre of confusion. It appears greed and politics are at play in this because unprofitable entities are being sold to foreign companies yet profitable companies are under pressure to cede controlling stake to blacks and with no apparent obligation to pay for the stake. However opposition to this drive both inside the government and outside seemed to have to put brakes on this drive though this issue continues to be a major source of uncertainty hence negatively affecting the economy’s recovery. Empowerment has to be gradual if it is achieve its objectives.