The Sunday News
Peter Matika Senior Leisure Reporter
AMAKHOSI Cultural Centre founder and director — Cont Mhlanga has not abandoned the arts, as perceived by some people who believe the legendary cultural activist may have retired. Mhlanga who has been in the arts industry for decades, guaranteed that he had not left the arts, saying he was working on various projects that would likely see to the development of the industry.
He said this addressing the recent concern that he had ventured into a degreased bones and export deal, which may have led and left people in the arts sector worried about the future of the industry without him.
“I have not left the arts. I am working on platforms that will promote the industry. I am particularly looking at broadcasting, a platform which Bulawayo artistes felt marginalised from, I hope by the end of the year to have set up a podium for them to also benefit from broadcasting. It is a critical platform for any artiste to grow. There are many stakeholders and investors that I have engaged in order to bring this into fruition and of course goodwill from people.
“I will be working on seeing this through over the next three years,” said Mhlanga.
In relation to the degreased bones issue, Mhlanga said it was something that he had always had a passion for.
“This is a passion I have always had. In terms of cultural economics this is a venture that can assist both culture and the economy of the country. With the right support I guarantee that this will revive our industry,” he said.
Mhlanga said he believed that economics was derived from culture and that Zimbabwe was using a foreign economic culture.
“Economics is derived from culture and we are using a culture that is not ours, that is why it is not sustainable. When we talk about cultural economics we talk about cattle ranching. The backbone of America’s economics is derived from cattle ranching,” he said.
Mhlanga also said that there were six stages in the slaughtering of cattle, which he says are not being utilised, thus contributing to the downfall of the country’s economy.
“There are six stages involved in the slaughtering of cattle, from these six stages there should be six factories that work on each of the stages. Cattle are very valuable in keeping the economy afloat. Zimbabwe has a herd of about five million cattle. From that number four million of those cattle are in the rural areas. You see the industrial processing of cattle from the stages I have been talking about should be done in the rural areas, where the cattle are,” he said.
Mhlanga added that while he was collecting bones for export he was killing two birds with one stone.
“I have not abandoned the arts industry; this is a project that will benefit both the economy and the arts. White people colonised us and confused our economy. We placed the processing and manufacturing industries in the wrong places. It is up to us to take the industrial processing back to the right places, which is in the rural areas. This will also create employment as well and there will be less hassle for many people. All the raw materials are there. It’s high time we set up our own processing firms rather than producing raw materials for them.
“The rearing of livestock of any sort is the stronghold of any country. We should include business and culture, which make the economy go round. With the right support and time I promise that I can get the industry working within a year,” he said.
Sometime last month Mhlanga in an interview mentioned that he, through Amakhosi had signed a MoU with Nust to undertake an industrial and manufacturing initiative.
“On this one we’ve received an export order to supply 500 tonnes of degreased bones,” he said.
Mhlanga said the export demand was an eye opener for Bulawayo industrialists to take a leaf from the creativity of foreign firms.
“It’s high time that we change our production models as a country and focus on processing industries. This is the only way to revive the economy. The bones will be used to make various products such as glue, cups, plates, and even fertiliser, which we import,” said Mhlanga.
