Zimpapers Logo

JUSTICE MAPHOSA

Robert Mukondiwa News Editor, Saturday Life —
I WALK into the office, a buff tattooed Caucasian man in a crisp white shirt ushers me in, needing confirmation that I am the one that has been awaited, it takes a gentle nod from a man in a black leather seat and red and white chequered shirt to have me ushered in.

On the boardroom table is a vast-mouthed mug with remnants of thick dark presumably Arabica coffee at the hem on the mug, with a series of ivory rings marking the places where the coffee had been let to rest in between long sips and hard conversation.

Evidently this coffee had not been consumed for leisurely pursuit but simply as a pawn and a prop in what was almost obviously an important meeting centring around one major thing; money. The man seated, not at the head of the table, but on an ordinary seat at the long able, like the legendary wizard of Oz, is an enigma the media in Zimbabwe and South Africa have been trying to understand.

And like that legendary wizard, many, have come out with varying interpretations of the man behind the myth. Dressed unspectacularly and looking ordinary unlike the tailor made tuxedo of the previous night’s glamorous awards, the man in the chequered shirt is Justice Maphosa, the man behind Big Time Strategic Group. A man in interests across aviation, construction, hospitality and with a passion for black empowerment amidst a myriad of other interests, this man is the hand that has financed a lot of events in Zimbabwe.

From beauty pageants, this year’s Harare International Carnival and gospel events in Gwanda, he has literally poured in millions of dollars in events around the country. Curiously though, while he has done the same in South Africa where he has business interests hence an obvious motivation to actively invest in his brand and perception pursuits, he has not even a deer’s spoor in the Zimbabwean economy. Having been touted as a political influence in the country by the media, I sought to inquire why he does what he does in Zimbabwe when he has little more than citizenship to link him to the country of his birth.

With a tiny smile at the end of his lips, he seems like a little cuddly warm hearted puppy-until he starts to speak!

He is a pitbull!

“We want to come and invest back home. (If we are to) do the awards that we do here in Zimbabwe they (will be) questioned because Zimbabwe has moved far away from where it should be and we as the children of Zimbabwe are saying let us move the country closer to where the other countries are,” says Maphosa with verve.

“Let us support initiatives in the country and finance them not as political players but as people who just have their country at heart. It is high time children of Zimbabwe started financing the Zimbabwean dream without soliciting political favour but merely out of a patriotic love for their country,” he says, suddenly agitated.

Challenged on the well-known notion that certainly no business can do something for ‘‘free’’ out of the mere goodness of their heart; there is no such thing as a free lunch-he surprisingly immediately agrees.

“No there is no free lunch. Gwanda (Gospel Music Festival) will go on even if I didn’t have a business. As long as I have money I will put it into that because of God. All I have is because of God. If you know how poor we are (used to be) everything I have had is from God so Gwanda is a worship God concept. Have you ever seen a Big Time advert or poster or the name on the screens at the concert? It’s because I want to worship God and keep my business out of it,” he says.

“That’s why I do not even speak in Gwanda or profile my company at the event.”

“If I wanted a constituency I would fight people and they wouldn’t fight me back, I promise you that. But in Gwanda I do not want a constituency but to worship God and make those appointed and anointed by God do the speaking.”

Is he a political player?

“I know how to campaign. We do it here for politicians and if I wanted to campaign you wouldn’t even speculate as to whether I am campaigning.

Zimbabwe should be at par with South Africa or even better. It should not be a surprise that there is a great gospel festival in Gwanda. My motives are patriotic.”

However, with everything else, a chess game is at play however;

“Nevertheless, we are profiling Zimbabwe and we want to enter the Zimbabwean market and invest, make money and improve our country. We have just set up a head office in Zimbabwe. Look at my head office.

‘‘It is probably the nicest head office in Zimbabwe right now and we have put 30 vehicles there ahead of setting up operations. I have sent in the furniture. I have sent in the boardrooms and we have serious (pre) investments in Zimbabwe. So yes we have interests in the country and we are coming.”

“We are coming for the long haul. If I wanted to kill a springbok I would have done that. If I wanted to kill a rabbit I would have done that. We are coming for the elephant as Big Time. Mr Maphosa is not a fly by night,” he says.

Maphosa brightens when he speaks on his country. There is little doubt that this man, who waged a war with the now deposed former prime diplomat in the nation, Walter Mzembi, has the green, yellow, red, black and white of the national flag flowing through his veins. A businessman and a patriot no less.

“We want business to flourish in Zimbabwe. Let politicians deal with the politics. Let the socialites deal with the social issues. People were chosen by God at such a time to occupy their posts.

‘‘But as business we will eat people alive if they come in our way because we want our investment to build back and help build our country. It is our duty and obligation.”

“Why swat a fly sitting on your forehead? Petty issues do not deter me from the bigger goal. CNN was there at the carnival and said positive things. Al Jazeera was there and appreciated.

‘‘Zimbabwe rising it was called. Even South Africa doesn’t have something as beautiful as the carnival! We should be proud and let to the small spats die away.”

As fate would have it, little time after I had this talk with Maphosa, the fly, Walter Mzembi, would soon be swatted off the political landscape; drowning in a tide of popular revolution that made him arguably one of the shortest serving foreign affairs ministers in Zimbabwe. And with a blot of a botched attempt to get founding father Robert Mugabe made a World Health Organisation goodwill ambassador, perhaps the one with the most catastrophic tenure. Certainly lacklustre!

Maphosa says he is determined to keep investing in social events in Zimbabwe and is proud of the carnival’s success, saying cultural festivals and events should also be held to make people happy and have a sense of pride in their national identity. Big Time Strategic Company is definitely headed to Zimbabwe according to Maphosa.

“What we did in Zimbabwe at the carnival was like saying ‘I am coming to sell you bread tomorrow but in the meantime here are three slices, taste them’ and that is what I believe in.”

“Big Time Strategic Group has a launch date already. We are coming to Zimbabwe! We will change the game in Zimbabwe’s business landscape,” he says assertively.

And then the phone rings. He has the next meeting to go to.

His helicopter awaits!