Doctoral Degrees (Centre for Africa Studies)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Centre for Africa Studies) by Subject "Affirmative action"

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    State, civil society and the politics of economic indigenisation in Zimbabwe, 1980 to 2016
    (University of the Free State, 2017-03) Ndakaripa, Musiwaro; Phimister, Ian; Pilossof, Rory; Twala, Chitja
    English: Using a broad civil society conceptual framework, this thesis examines the relations between the state and interest groups concerned with economic indigenisation in Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2016. During this period, the state maintained that the indigenisation policy addresses colonial injustices by facilitating the entry of indigenous people, mainly blacks, into the mainstream economy. The state also claimed the policy curbs the exploitation of natural and human resources by foreign capital. Emerging from the liberation struggle, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government adopted a pragmatic approach to accommodate the interests of both white and black interest groups in the 1980s. The state’s rather weak support of black enterprises during the 1980s is described in this study as proto-indigenisation. The state’s interactions with business associations and trade unions on matters of proto-indigenisation are explained using Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony which advances that governments use both ‘persuasion’ and ‘coercion’ to dominate social groups. Statist analysis, which explains how states use their power to side line civil society on national affairs, is also useful because the government often ignored the demands of black interest groups when it felt their demands threatened the economy. Peter Evans’ embedded autonomy concept which applauds dense ties and cooperation between the state and society on economic policies best explains the collaboration between the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) and the government on the black advancement policy (in which blacks were appointed and promoted on the labour market). The adoption of Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) in the 1990s led to increased demands by indigenous interest groups for affirmative action measures to facilitate black entry into the mainstream economy. The complex relations between the state, indigenous and established interest groups on indigenisation are explained within the context of neoliberalism. Indigenous interest groups feared that neoliberal economic reforms would benefit large white and foreign enterprises only and demanded a stronger role for black entrepreneurs. Paradoxically, despite accusations levelled against them, ‘neoliberal’ established business associations such as the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) and CZI supported black enterprises. This reveals the complex nexus between neoliberalism and indigenisation in the 1990s. Between 2000 and 2008, the state’s relations with interest groups concerned with indigenisation were shaped by the country’s political and economic crisis. The emergence of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and its ties with pro-democracy civil society had the effect, in reaction, of cementing patronage ties between the ZANU-PF government and indigenous interest groups. These patronage ties are explained using the public choice concept which contends that interest groups’ interactions with political elites are influenced by the need for economic gain. Attempts to adopt a plural approach to indigenisation in the 2000s through the National Economic Consultative Forum (NECF) failed because of the ZANU-PF government’s unilateral tendencies. Statist analysis is used to explain how the ZANU-PF government enacted the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act of 2007 despite fierce opposition from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), MDC parties and established business associations. During the power sharing government era, between 2009 and 2013, ZANU-PF implemented the Indigenisation Act in a typical statist fashion. Dissenting voices from the MDC parties, the RBZ, established business associations, and other civil society organisations were ignored. The ZANU-PF government’s reconsideration to review the Indigenisation Act in the post-power sharing era vindicates voices critical of the indigenisation programme. Arguably, for much of the post-colonial period, the ZANU-PF - controlled state was hegemonic on indigenisation. Although the views of interest groups were occasionally considered, the state formulated and implemented the policy in a manner which mainly protected its own interests. Succinctly, state-civil society relations on indigenisation in Zimbabwe have been complex and evolving. These relations are explained in this thesis using various conceptual analyses.