THE anger, the indignation, the consternation that I saw on a South African television channel shocked me, to say the least.
On a news item discussing Zimbabwe’s Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 which regulates the importation of products, South African business operators were livid.
They said they had lost millions of rands in business, some said they would be forced to close shop, while many others feared for the welfare of their workers.
Some asked how they would service the loans they had taken, obviously backed by expected sales to Zimbabwean consumers.
Their fears are real.
Zimbabweans were the force behind their thriving and booming businesses.
The town of Messina has recorded phenomenal growth on the back of Zimbabwean consumers.
Watching the news item, one would be forgiven for thinking Zimbabwe was a province of South Africa.
Truth be told, some of the stuff that we have been buying from South Africa is readily available in the country.
It is really disturbing to find a South African wholesaler dealing in mineral water weeping bitterly that he has been deprived of his customers.
Locally, we have numerous companies producing mineral water at competitive prices.
We were even importing toothpicks.
All the efforts to Buy Zimbabwe have obviously fallen on deaf ears.
We had even resorted to buying eggs, milk and chickens from across the Limpopo, despite the availability of these goods locally and at competitive prices, surely that was scrapping the bottom of the barrel.
As I pen this piece my attention was caught by another news item on BBC showing Americans bestowing medals on their dogs that have ably served the American society in various capacities.
It is all about appreciation and promoting anything and everything American.
But these very people who recognise and idolise their dogs are the ones at the forefront of championing that we look elsewhere for solutions, but in our own country.
They recognise their animals and give them prominence, but have a problem when we recognise our industries that seek to employ thousands of people and improve livelihoods.
They lambast statutes that seek to give our industries an opportunity to develop and grow.
Zimbabweans are not a poor people; the furious South Africans are witness to this fact.
We are successfully sustaining their business communities at the expense of ours.
The statute prejudices no one but seeks the greater good of our nation.
It is time we stop being individualistic and self-centred.
We must not backtrack or regret making decisions that seek the greater good.
Since the implementation of the statute, South African companies serious about Zimbabwe as a market have set up shop in the country.
This we appreciate for now we get to benefit too in the form of taxes and levies, we are no longer just siphoning money out of the country.
It is a fact that though our production levels are depressed, our products are of a superior quality.
Our products are organic, making them competitive not just in the region but the world over.
Our industries need to be given the chance to grow again.
It is an erroneous belief that all the goods from outside our borders are cheaper.
A lot of Zimbabwean products, especially from small and medium enterprises sector which is adopting latest production technologies, are priced competitively.
Let us Buy Zimbabwe and give our industries the opportunity to rise again.