OPINION: Imported Fabric Cant Be The Source Of National Pride - Muckraker

The Zimbabwe Independent’s Muckraker commenting on the recently launched national dress said national Pride cannot be derived from imported fabric. Opined the witty opinionist:

A mid pomp and circumstance, something called the National Dress Fabric was launched last Saturday, but there was one missing detail: who manufactures the fabric? Speeches full of platitudes were said and read, but this small detail was glaringly absent.

Said President Emmerson Mnangagwa: “The fabric plays an important role in the preservation of national values and cultural heritage and helps create unity among our people. I challenge the citizenry to conceptualise our apparel as more than just a form of identity. It must be a bridge, joining communities with the uniqueness of their heritage bla bla bla . . . Going forward, as Zimbabweans, both here and in the Diaspora, let us now promote our country’s sovereignty and national identity through this National Dress Fabric bla bla bla.”

First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, who is credited for the success of the research, identification and launch of the fabric, said she intended the National Dress Fabric to depict the country’s traditions, history, national heritage and aspirations while being appropriate to all social and religious gatherings. But where is this fabric from? David Whitehead is comatose; so is Cone Textiles; which textile manufacturer gave us this material? Wouldn’t it have been great had the textile borne the signature, “Made in Zimbabwe”?

Let’s take a look at Zimbabwe’s cotton value chain. Cotton was once dubbed “white gold” because it enriched everybody in the chain from Gokwe, to Sanyati to all those semi-arid areas where the crop thrives to the manufacturers and retailers. We exported finished fabrics and clothing to the whole world. Some of the greatest clothing labels including Van Hussein were made in Highfield!

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But what has happened to that? Now our farmers have been impoverished by a system that does not recognise and reward people who work hard. Our poor cotton farmers are owed about a billion dollars by buccaneering middlemen and state enterprises that should promote them. Laughably, this season farmers were paid in grocery hampers after all their toil: a packet of sugar, a packet of salt, a bottle of Mazoe and a bottle of cooking oil were about all they got after such backbreaking work.

This is what has resulted in the collapse of the whole textile industry; with not much cotton delivered by the farmers, fabric manufacturers couldn’t survive and that cascaded to the whole value chain.

Because of this negligence on the government’s part, gates were opened for the importation of cheap second-hand clothing and textiles from Europe and the East, which imports have hammered the last nail into the coffin of our own industry. Now we are importing cheap fabrics from China or some such predatory country and calling it our national fabric! It’s much like saying the Honda Fit is our national car because about everyone drives one. Had the fabric been manufactured in Zimbabwe using our own cotton then the last week’s launch would have been the icing on the cake.

Source: The Zimbabwe Independent