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 Mpumelelo Nyoni
THE West’s hypocrisy in claiming to be the originator and vanguard of democracy and liberalism as we know it has been going on since time immemorial.

The rest of the world, Africa in particular, or the “Second World” and “Third World” as the West conveniently defines it, has been forced, both covertly and overtly, to aspire to emulate this hypocrisy so as to fortify and put into fruition the West’s imperialistic and capitalistic agenda.

As the adage goes, history has the stubborn tendency of repeating itself.

The imminent crumbling of the European Union as a trading bloc due to Britain’s exit in the recent Brexit fiasco as well as America’s acceptance of a political ignoramus like Republican candidate Donald Trump’s campaign to go on as far as it has is a clear reflection of the West’s blatant and unabated racist ideology.

It should not be surprising in the least that blue collar Americans are secretly backing Trump’s outrageous proposition to build a wall along the US and Mexican border.

Britain’s racist view towards the Muslim world has also been unveiled as Brexit is nothing more than an attempt to make little Britain racially “pure” again.

As Europe is fretting over its economic, political and social future and suffering persistent migraines induced by its capitalist hangover, the rest of the world is yet again being infected by the West’s state of nervousness.

The fact of the matter is that the West’s hypocrisy has finally gone full circle and Africa is now faced with a golden opportunity to reclaim its wealth.

It is thus no mere coincidence but political prophesy that the African Union acknowledged the steadfast criticism made by President Mugabe for decades of the West’s hypocrisy.

He is arguably Africa’s greatest critic of the West’s hypocrisy and the beneficiation drive and its 50-year plan now needs to start being implemented.

An overview of Western hypocrisy is thus insightful to Africa’s conceptualisation of the opportunities that lie in wait.

Eric Williams, in his classical thesis Capitalism and Slavery opines that the American Revolution from British austerity was not a victory in democracy but was merely America’s fight to get a bigger piece of the capitalist pie.

Williams aptly points out that, “The commercial capitalism of the 18th century developed the wealth of Europe by means of slavery and monopoly”.

Thus America was just frustrated with the fact that being a colony of Britain, it had to pay duty for profits made in its vast slave-driven plantations.

Williams further points out that Britain abolished slavery simply because it no longer made economic sense to own slave labour.

Two centuries later, Trump, a billionaire real estate businessman, no longer sees it fit to have Mexican labour even though Mexicans have been the backbone of the American economy for decades.

Capitalism, in its very nature, is premised upon exploiting labour and resources so as to make maximum profits at a minimum expense.

The partitioning of Africa at the Berlin Conference of 1884 where Europe set about to illegally share among itself Africa’s wealth is a candid example of capitalism at its highest level.

The two world wars were a result of the West’s capitalist stupor and were countered by sober-minded leaders like President Mugabe through the Non-Aligned Movement, not by Britain as the West has led Africa to believe.

The West, under the guise of democracy and justified by its racist dogma of a “civilising mission” has continued to suck Africa dry and the influx of African “illegal” immigrants into Spain is another example of the excesses of capitalism.

It is thus a great travesty that the West’s hypocrisy has made the word “illegal” a paradox. Africa is faced then with the challenge to reverse the colonial effects of the West’s exploitative nature.

As renowned scholar and social critic Ngugi wa Thiong’o proposed in his text, Decolonising the Mind and Bob Marley’s plea for Africa and its allies to emancipate itself from mental slavery, Africa must now wean itself from the shackles of imperialism by ridding itself of an inferiority complex which has manifested in a dependency syndrome created by the West.

A lecturer at Midlands State University’s English and Communication department, and expert in Postcolonial Theory, Dr Tasiyana Javangwe, says the demise of the West is not only a rallying call but also a warning to Africa and the rest of the world.

“The demise of the West has shown that the monolithic nature of grand discourses and grand groupings is self-defeating.

Africa has been given an opportunity to learn from the West so that it does not repeat the same mistakes.

This debate goes beyond politics but should ask fundamental questions to groupings like the AU and Sadc among others as to whether we can formulate ourselves in a manner where the vote becomes the voice”.

Political analyst, Richard Runyararo Mahomva has expressed the same caution saying Africa and the rest of the world should not be quick to celebrate but take heed of valuable lessons from the West’s demise.

“Throughout history, the West has positioned itself as the moral critic of global politics.

“Its demise should be a lesson to the developing world to pursue multi-literal interests.

“Africa, the Caribbeans and Latin America should collectively come together and seize the opportunity to table matters of reparation for more than 400 years of looting”.

Zimbabwe knows only too well of Britain’s hypocrisy due to the illegal sanctions that have been placed in a bid to destabilise the land reform programme.

The liberation struggle was a means of taking back what was stolen from the majority of native Zimbabweans but it is only racist Western epistemology that then describes the nation’s land reform programme as theft.

For too long Africa’s economic, political and social destiny has been determined under the auspices of the West.

In true revolutionary and foresighted fashion, President Mugabe’s ardent work to secure mega deals for this country by fostering relationships with countries such as China, Russia and Iran is a clear reflection and testimony that indeed the West will see the error of its ways, beg for forgiveness and come to the negotiating table with the rest of the world as equals.

Mpumelelo Thembelani Nyoni is an independent researcher. He is also a Midlands State University English and Communication graduate. The writer can be contacted on Cell: 0776 707 315, email: [email protected].