Dear Editor,
NOTE: Very controversial post. Chances are that ladies will kill me lol
Black tax is a hindrance to wealth creation in Zambia. The amount of begging in the African set up is astonishing.
When a person gets a job, he is immediately given dependants even before his first salary and in most cases, parents of the dependants are still alive.
Just when one gets the first salary, the whole family gathers to come and share the income and in most cases, their expectations are by far more than actual income earned.
At this point, the gentleman becomes attractive to the women in the area and they immediately find themselves a girlfriend. Just after the first date, the guy now adopts not only the girl but her whole family and in a matter of days, the guy becomes the sponsor of both his family and the girl’s family. I’m told that the girl’s parents can even call to be bought for things like talk time. Awe, men are in trouble.
Then comes lobola. Nowadays one needs to get a loan to afford lobola. After getting a K60, 000 loan to afford the wedding and lobola, both parents now come to ask for money for fertiliser.
The girl also is given two sisters and a brother to live with bringing the number of dependants to six in the household. The couple is never even given the chance and time to themselves after the wedding.
Then within six years, four children are already born bringing the number of dependants to 10 therefore calling for another loan.
By the time a Zambian is retiring, they would have given free money to over 15 dependants who do nothing because they have a saviour who works in their behalf.
Wealth will never be created because African culture doesn’t allow for savings. Immediately you save something, you receive a phone call that “Antie Mwenya has swallowed a razor blade. Send something.”
If we need to remove the poverty curse, we need to break this norm and join SMAZ.
Ladies, when society brings about memes such as SMAZ, its men speaking to you saying it’s too much. I’m told that when you invite one lady for a drink, she comes with friends and her friends’ friends. Men start stealing just to maintain relationships.
Let’s give men enough room to relax. Ati when you just wake up, you already owe her and her sister talk time, money for nails, Brazilian hair, and transport refund lol. My single friends call me once in a while asking me to help out with for dispatch fees lol
To the ladies out there, men are not a source of wealth. Women can also have a career. There are a lot of successful women in Zambia and look up to them.
You only cheapen your families by asking for money from men!
Having been exposed to the other world, in most cases a woman would never allow a man to pay on their first date let alone ask for talk time money or transport refund. It’s not a business it’s a relationship.
There are also men eating from hardworking women I’m told. Men naturally should not take money from women and women should not look at men as their next pay cheque.
We need to have dignity even in poverty.
There are people we work with who are in a lot of financial pressure. Most of those pressures come from relatives, the extended family and side chicks.
As long as your two children are fed and have a shelter, you have done your part, my brother and sister. You can’t sponsor the whole world.
Resources are scarce.
And I said, two children. Not more than that! Some of the problems we have are self-imposed. We need to start having that number of chil-dren we can afford!! If you can’t afford children, don’t have them because you are bringing problems into the world. Increasing the number of street kids!
Sometimes your salary would have been enough if you didn’t have 10 dependants and 12 children!
Hate me or love me, this is the truth I’m telling you! We need to pass wealth from generation to generation not again us getting from our children to the old generation. We need to invest so that we don’t bother our children for money and they don’t bother their children also!
At the moment, we are solving problems in our families, spouses’ families and families of those that know us!
DR LUBINDA HAABAZOKA.
Author
