How Chinese traders displace local entrepreneurs

DIRANG LEKUNTWANE
Correspondent | Thursday March 14, 2013 00:00

MAHALAPYE: It is now something akin to a norm that Chinese traders are a force to reckon with in the world of business who always keep governments on edge every time they invade their host country. The modus operandi of Chinese traders seems to be the same in all countries they set out to do business. They first work according to the laws and regulations of the host country. Then come the kickbacks.

Remember the saga of Chinese men in dark suits with brief cases laden with bank notes trying to buy the favour of a permanent secretary? This is followed by the purchase of the rented buildings, and then they are home and dry. 

In the instance of Botswana, they have penetrated the furthest and remotest places to sell their downright cheap merchandise that includes furniture, electrical appliances and clothes. When they first arrived in Botswana, a considerable number of Batswana sniggered and vowed that they would never be found dead wearing a 'fongkong' item.  Indeed, there was even a popular song about 'boisterous' Chinese shoes. The 'boisterous' here not in the literal sense, but meaning that they had a stench that could damage one's nostrils. The song originated from South Africa but it became a hit in Botswana. At the same time, Chinese merchandise became a hit with those with short blankets (an allegory for the poor).

For a change, they too could be seen wearing Nike, Adidas, Puma et al, replete with designer sunglasses of world-class labels. Infact, the Chinese first came here at the height of national service (Tirelo Sechaba) and T-shirts bearing the name of the programme and its logo were in vogue.  Legend has it that the Chinese, scenting lucre, decided to produce the T-shirts and put them among their merchandise in the clothing racks. Perhaps they could have got away with it, but an anomaly was that instead of printing 'Tirelo Sechaba,' it was 'Tirelo Sebacha.'

Mahalapye was no exception to the Chinese invasion where there has been a virtual occupation of most shops in this dusty village in recent years. Up to 20 of the limited retail outlets have been renovated and changed to trade in Chinese merchandise. These shops previously had bare shelves with very little to sell as it was an epic battle for the Batswana owners to attract customers with their dreary merchandise. But when they arrived in Mahalapye, the Chinese occupied the dull shops. Firstly they gave them fresh paintwork. Then they stocked them up with brightly coloured clothes and shiny and trendy electrical appliances, all at give-away prices. Imagine having been unable to buy a television set because the cheapest one would cost you over P1,000, and then when you enter a Chinese shop, you find the same set going for P300!

Nowadays, it has come to a point where, lured by the cheap prices, a man who is preparing to marry would buy a shiny suit, equally shiny shoes and other sparkling paraphernalia at a Chinese outlet as part of the bride price (bogadi). Meanwhile in Mahalapye, local business owners moved out to nearby caravans or closed shop all together to give way to the Chinese. Owners of the buildings, however, rake in high rentals while others sell their buildings to the Mandarin speakers and laugh all the way to the bank.

Conversely, a local businessman has been left with a bitter taste in his mouth. Now a taxi operator, he would rather choose anonymity out of reticence, downright embarrassment or the green-eyed monster called jealousy.His beef is now with the government which he considers the culprit behind his fall and that of many other local business owners. In his view, the government has aided and abetted the Chinese to flourish in their businesses.

'Yes, our government might be thinking that they are helping Batswana with cheap Chinese merchandise for the less privileged and the disadvantaged, but the damage is far too much as these Chinese are milking us because of our little tax charges' the aging man says. 'One thing for sure is that these guys do not save their money in the banks. I have never seen them queuing up to deposit their profits in the banks. Where do they save the money they drain from us every day?'

'They sell us cheap material just to cheat us of our money nothing else. I don't know the government allows them to come through our borders with such merchandise to rob us with their 'fongkongs.' The situation is getting out of control because they are collaborating with big companies like Mascom and Orange to sell units. This is disgusting,' he goes on, jabbing his finger at the Mascom sign on the door of one of the shops.

'Look at just what they pay their shop assistants. P500 per month! What can you do with such a pittance?  The taxi operator suggested that if at least the Chinese were wholesalers, then Batswana would buy merchandise in bulk from them for their retail shops.

'That would help eradicate the poverty of the natives. These guys collude with council personnel because they bribe so that they are not charged for anything. They do as they please.' A newly employed shop assistant in one of the Chinese shops, who gives his name only as Thato, says he is at the end of his tether. He got the job in the Chinese shop after failing his Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) at Shoshong Secondary School in 2011.

The 19-year old says it was never his choice to work as a shop assistant, let alone a Chinese shop. 'I just wanted to get away from the hard street life,' says Thato. 'I had nothing else to do despite my numerous attempts to continue my studies with any of the brigades around to persuade a course in plumbing.'The young man mentions that he wanted to avoid drugs and alcohol. 'Right now I don't know how much I am going to be paid because I am new here. Also I don't know whether I have the days off? I will see as time goes on,' he says. For Thato not to know his monthly salary is mainly because of communication breakdown between employer and employee.

Interviews with some shop assistants in the Chinese shops showed that most of them do not even have contract letters of employment while some do not get paid for working on weekends and public holidays. Some are sacked without notice for alleged pilfering and are not paid anything. Like Thato, most of these employees work from 8am to 6pm, inclusive of weekends. When Mmegi took a tour of these Chinese shops, it came to light that the managers and till operators were the owners and their wives while locals were shop assistants.

Foul language and Pidgin English are the order of the day, while sign language is also employed in the daily activities of the shops. Some say blood is thicker than water. These Chinese traders watch each other's backs, especially when the law threatens them with random police and council raids.

Surprisingly, like the police and security company personnel, they use two-way radios for their daily communication, mainly choosing to speak in their vernacular. Although the police and the council by-law officers randomly raid the mall for illegal immigrants, mainly Zimbabweans, it is almost always business as usual for the Chinese.

Delivery vans full of their merchandise reach Chinese shops day and night in full view of law enforcement officers.The master-servant relationship of the Chinese and locals continue as the Asian traders expatriate millions¤ to their native country while Batswana struggle to put bread on the table. Efforts to interview some Chinese nationals proved futile because they claimed, with a shake of their hand and a finger pointing to the ear, not to understand English.