Nitty Gritty

Barolong Seboni | Friday April 11, 2014 11:23

Tshini is on the floor. Well, he is not literally on the floor; he is actually on the green couch that faces the oblong table. But his mouth is on the floor since it is this same mouth that has held the attention of the rest of the fellowship for the past fifteen or so minutes.

The other fellows are either so involved and mesmerized by his contribution or they are presently unable to change the topic due to lack of funds. It is a time-honoured tradition at the shebeen Nitty Gritty that whoever changes the topic has to pay for the next round of drinks. New topic, new drinks. This is a wise old tradition, founded by the drinking and thinking fathers of the tavern Nitty Gritty, and it has stood the test of time.

The basic philosophy behind it is that stale drinks make stale ideas. And, needless to say, stale ideas come from stale minds. It stands to reason then that fresh drinks “refreshivate” the mind, as the fellows would say. So Tshini’s mouth is on the floor, but Chicken keeps on entering his mouth and telling him that he has spoken for more than a minute.

“If you want us to take down your points you must speak only for one minute. The secretary is writing the minutes, not the hours!” advises Chicken who is clearly in control of the proceedings. But Tshini will not be interrupted.

“Look man, I am not a member of your association. This is a free country and I can speak for as long as I want.”

“You are quite right, it is a free country. But it is not a free shebeen. My association pays to have meetings at this venue!” stresses Chicken.

“Well in that case let me finish what I was saying and then you can carry on with your so called meeting. My point is that if you are looking for new engines of growth o le the Botswana government, you must economically empower the Motswana businessman and put in place policies that will ensure that he can compete on an international platform. If he or she is not assured of a market at home, how can he be assured of markets outside?

Through the African Union and perhaps NEPAD, Africans are taking their economic destiny into their own hands. Botswana is lagging behind in this respect. Business is not in the hands of Batswana. Business must only be given to companies with citizens with majority shareholding. This will encourage strategic partnerships and will ensure that the Pula stays within these borders where it belongs.

This also means that the citizen companies can grow internationally through their strategic partners. This for me is what real empowerment means. This is how things work in South Africa, black South Africans now own mines, banks and huge shares in multi-national corporations. We don’t have to go far for a meaningful black empowerment model.” Everyone around the oblong table nods their heads in agreement. They have all seen on TV and read in magazines how someone they used to go to school with in the seventies and eighties of apartheid is now a millionaire. They have moved out of Soweto into the leafy suburbs of Sandton through this thing of empowerment that came with independence in 1994. Someone comments in utter despair;

“And we have been independent since 1966 and we are still economically disadvantaged!” And then someone adds; “Previously, presently and posthumously!”

Some fellow who knows a little more English than all the previous commentators put together, shouts, “underprivileged in perpetuity!”

Nikita is unimpressed, and in his own unique way makes it well known? “I really feel sorry for you guys, wallowing in self-pity. You are so pathetic the whole lot of you. Do you really know what being underprivileged and disadvantaged means? These are words that you use in your pitiful little world of whisky and wine.

Those words in their true sense refer to poverty. I don’t see any of you without a meal or a job.”

Tshini stands up and challenges him. “We are talking about the empowerment of businessmen. We have worked so hard to get where we are and we deserve a break. Empowerment of citizens also ensures job creation, employment and wealth creation.”

“You give me a break! Empowerment from my observation is really the empowerment of the few, by the few, for the many. And you don’t need to go to South Africa for that,” says Nikita swigging the last dregs of his vodka on ice.