AFTER spending two weeks in Zimbabwe looking at the various opportunities, I have returned to South Africa to find a country slowly going into the shut down mode.

The African National Congress, the ruling party of my host government, has a saying which goes “working together we can do more”. It sums up the possibilities which are opened by cooperative interaction. If you are not one of those people who were born with a silver spoon in your mouth like the Oppenheimers of this world, then you would probably need other people to achieve your goals.

Granted, there are a few high fliers amongst us who will individually build successful ventures on their own, for the rest of us we need each other to make it work.

Individualism is an imported concept in Africa; our history is anchored in the spirit of “ubuntu” which gives us better traction and encourages what they call “harambee” in East Africa which means working together.

We spend a lot of time braaing and barbecuing together and all we share are Chinoz jokes. Others share their passion for Zimbabwean soccer through Dynamos, Highlanders or CAPS United. Yet others share a religion and worship together but cannot bring themselves together to establish lifestyle supporting entrepreneurial ventures.

It seems the inability to bond together and achieve greater things is not just a Zimbabwean problem but a generic problem with the modern African whether at home or in the Diaspora. Very little money circulates in black communities as Dr. Chika Onyeani, the Nigerian born American author of Capitalist Nigger, explained in his book.

They did a study in Soweto, South Africa, a couple of years ago which showed that over 80% of the money generated in this township was spent outside it. Where do you spend your money and why? Who cuts your grass? Who paints your house? Who does your plumbing? Where is your car serviced? Who caters for your event? Who writes your insurance policies? Who arranges your mortgage? Where do you get you IT services? Who is your courier?

It would really be surprising if you convince me that you cannot access decent services in these areas from members of your own community.

We attended the South African Revenue Services Auction this November and watched about 15 members from the Indian community involved in retail business in South Africa. They bided together for a full container of clothing and paid just R90,000 ($12,000) and afterwards they split the consignment among their 15 shops. They would do the same for shoes and electronic goods.

Like typical consumers, when we rush to their shops to buy because we consider them the cheapest, we have not taken time to understand why that is so. Vana Museyamwa wanted the full container all for one individual and we consequently lost because of failing to work together.

A couple of years ago we had an idea which we took to one of the major four banks in South African. The white line manager who received it thought it was ground breaking and was quite excited about it. With much enthusiasm, he felt that it was something they would want to do and given that his boss, the director of the division was a Zimbabwean like us, he did not foresee any problem.

That was until he took us for introduction to the boss. Our idea died a slow natural death. In a typical Zimbabwean fashion, the gentleman could not bring himself to say ‘no’ directly to us, so he just kept us going round in circles until we lost steam. Funny enough we meet a white gentleman in 2010 who is implementing a similar multi-million rand idea with the bank and now wanted to recruit us to work with him on the idea.

In South Africa, all major four banks have at least one Zimbabwean at director level. The question we should ask is: Has this translated into more members from our community having easier access to finance for their ventures? Some among us have this sickening attitude of kicking the ladder when they get to the top. They sometimes forget that when they were climbing the ladder, we were holding it steady to make sure that it does not fall.

I have a Jewish acquaintance whose story of how he bootstrapped to start his business is quite heart rendering. The point he always made to me is that he would never have made it if it was not the hand holding of members of his community, some of them referrals through their synagogue network. When he wanted a lease, the first contract, the first loan there was always a contact from his community who gave him his first break. It was this “cloud of witnesses” working together which cheered him on to success. Now, he is helping other people to get started in business.

When Joseph found himself by divine appointment as Prime Minister of Egypt and there was famine in the land of his birth Israel, he ended up bringing the whole nation of Israel and, to use a Zimbabwean lingo, “eat” with him in Egypt. Have you assisted another person to get to the feeding trough where you are currently lavishing yourself?

If we do not pull together, we increase our vulnerability. When I was in Mutare last week I drove through the Old Dangamvura Road and passed by a large construction site with high walls close to Natvest during tea break. I was told the Chinese who are mining our diamonds were building that site.

The more than 30 casuals seated at the gate said all they were getting for their labour was US$2 a day. Traditionally, you would expect your government to get angry on behalf of you in such cases of extreme exploitation. But with foreign investors with friends in high places, it is not going to happen.