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The Right to Work - Does It Qualify As The Fundamental Basis to Freedom?
-Bhekuzulu Khumalo - 31 July 2002

The colonial structures inherited after independence need to be overhauled. They were created to exploit and oppress the African. So called liberators have kept these institutions and ironically use them to oppress those they were liberating. These institutions are oppressive and not inducive to freedom.

There is only one form of freedom, that is the right to work. The world has come out with many fancy definitions of  "utopian" concepts of freedom. Some well known concepts are the right to shelter, the right to food, and so many other rights. These fall short because as it is, food on the table does not fall from heaven. One must work to put something on the table, somebody must have worked for the food to be on the table.

The difference between a right and a privilege must be understood. To receive something without working for it is a privilege. African societies do not have enough, though this might change, to give out privileges.To receive something without working for it is a privilege because one is receiving the labour of somebody else. Calling a privilege a right does not however change it from being a privilege. When one collects what they have worked for, it is a right.

The basis of freedom, and therefore the right to work, flows from property. For one to own property they must have worked for it. Inherited property is something that has been worked for somewhere down the line and left to an heir by the person who worked for it. Yet before the arrival of the colonizers in Africa, there was no tax on any property. Tax was the first instrument of oppression introduced in Southern Africa. This was done to disenfranchise people as they no longer were working for themselves but for the colonial master in Europe. Yet today one will hear liberators saying people need to be taxed.

Since property can be roughly defined is one's possession. All taxes are a tax on property. When a person has some form of income, that income becomes his property. One can buy other types of property with that income, however it is still property. Food is property, the food in ones fridge is one's property.  Therefore, any tax takes away the right one has to work. It reduces the work effort and anything that hinders the right to work is a subduing factor. 

Moving away from taxes, it is a well known fact that the fundamental rights of Africans was taken away by Colonialists. Jobs were closed for them, they could not grow crops they wanted to grow. Africans were forbidden from participating in the economy up to a certain level. Such are the mechanisms of Colonialism and Colonialism, it must be understood is not capitalism. Capitalism says that all must participate in the economy. Africans indeed were capitalist before the arrival of the colonizer, all citizens were participating in the economy. Colonialism was some sort of command economy with only a few allowed to participate.

Colonialism and the modern African to African colonialism which was put into place and endorsed by the colonizers as they left Africa takes away, without a shadow of doubt, the right for one to work. When Shonas in Africa colonize Ndebeles, they take away the Ndebeles right to work. When any group oppresses another, rules over them by force, that is colonialism. Hence Southern Sudan is a colony of Northen Arabic Sudan.

If property rights are the basis of freedom and therefore the right to work, one has no right to demand off somebody's property. For example, nobody has the right to a job, unless they have signed a contract. The place of employment is the property of another. However, if the employer has the right to own a company, the employee must also be guaranteed the right of starting his own company if they feel they have the aptitude. To be employed is a privilege. The owner has a right to employ whoever they want. 

If having a job is not a right, the consumer must have the right to purchase any good or services from any company that they choose. Business owners and producers can not have their cake and eat it too. The consumer must have the choice to use their money, their property as they see fit. Hence the need for free trade. 

Africa must get rid of the colonial mind set that producers are paramount and the consumer is nothing. This is a remnant of colonialism and it was done in order to protect the colonial economy. Choice was limited to what they produced. With "liberation" choice should be open to the Africans. Yet the so called liberators like the colonizers have limited the Africans' choice by imposing tariffs, duties and quotas. Having a choice, the consumer would force the producer to be more efficient. Even if argument was we want to buy local, one can do that, but for those who are rational, the choice must be there for them. 

If for example a Kenyan citizen finds Kenyan pens to be of a lower quality than imported pens, they should not be forced to buy Kenyan pens. The Kenyan producer will be signaled by the market that his products are not up to scratch. If he is protected, he will continue to produce a pen with no quality. The producer has the right to produce, the consumer must have the right of choice, to buy or not to buy. If the producer has the right to layoff, then the consumer must have the right not to buy.

Any law that curbs work is oppressive. If there are open markets, a country can afford to have one producer. It would not be a monopoly. If its goods become too expensive and of a lower quality, one merely imports. For Africa, efficiency and the efficient use of resources is paramount, Africa is behind, there is not so much as a strategic industry. The colonial era created such fancy terms to protect itself. However, the efficient producer has the right to beat the competition and be the sole producer in the country.

Africans must not be afraid of freedom. If prices rise, at a certain level new ways of doing things will be found. Taking a lesson from the USA, Standard Oil the great oil company was broken down for its perceived monopoly powers. The first thing accepted about monopolies is that they are inefficient due to a lack of competition. Oil prices surely would have risen under a Standard monopoly. A new power source would have had to be found. Breaking up Standard oil, and therefore the natural progression of industry slowed down innovation. Medici, once owned the entire wool industry in Europe. Were is he today?

Freedom is the right for the producer to produce without hindrance. Freedom is freedom for the consumer to spend the rewards of their labour on goods and services of their choice.

An honorable system breeds men of honor who shall work for what is theirs, and understand that if they receive anything they have not worked for they are privileged. Honorable men work and leave behind an inheritance if they can be sure that it will not be stolen. Africa must return to its roots.