With the imminent privatization of certain parastatals, Botswana stands at the cusp of something monumental in its inexorable march to deeper capitalism. And one of the ironies facing us is that, although the process of privatization here is self-imposed and self-led, unlike in many comparable countries, it still remains, even in Botswana, an unpopular reform strategy.
Why this is happening is not accidental. It is because however well-intentioned or self-led, many see privatization as eroding government’s ability to protect its citizens against the uneven distribution of the gains of privatization, massive labour retrenchments and corruption. But the stewardship of PEEPA (the privatization agency) and its concern that the process of privatization must be as public, transparent, and as fair as possible, seem to suggest that the government intends to keep a beady-eye over the process without necessarily being too intrusive in the privatization exercise. After all, governments now operate under the discipline of the marketplace. This is the new law of capitalism, and all governments, except the small-minded ones, now acknowledge its application to them.
Even with this implicit governmental assurance, it is difficult to imagine this calming the fears of those who worry about the effects of privatization and the likelihood of a select few being ceded our nation’s assets and treasure at the expense of everybody else. How then can we make the case for privatization?
We can do so by arguing imaginatively in favour of privatization. Firstly, as a punchline to our main argument for privatization, we should sing loudest, the chorus that really, privatization encourages competition, reduces prices and improves efficiency. Then we should make the core of the case for privatization as follows: that those who oppose the privatization on leftist grounds forget (hopefully unintentionally) that these institutions are operating in the grip of bureaucrats and their political bosses. How can anyone, especially a progressive, in good conscience oppose the release of that stranglehold? And those who oppose the privatization of parastatals on any other ground are disingenuous-for they should be thankful that after operating in a sheltered environment in defiance of the moral imperative of competition, through privatization, our nation will finally get feedback and accountability from these institutions.
We should not underestimate the semiotics of policy. Following the lead of others, ineluctably, through privatization, this country is affirming its commitment to a muscular form of capitalism. In this aspect of our country’s developmental direction, as in many others, capitalism will continue to make inroads into the power of our nation state. Considered rationally, the surrender of some degree of governmental control is a natural and inevitable concomitant of our nation’s embrace of widely-acclaimed capitalistic best practices.
Bongi D D Radipati teaches law at the University of Botswana
