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MINISTER RISKING WITH PEOPLE’S LIVES

13/01/2024 10:40:00 Mfanukhona Nkambule

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On December 23, 2023, I bought supposedly contaminated meat from one of the butcheries in Mbabane.

Shockingly and to my disappointment, stomach-upsets among members of my family began even before we ate the meat. It was already on the braai stand when I had to sprint to the rest room. It was worse after we had consumed the meat. Our Christmas party turned into a sprint race. That was not happening to us for the first time. That itself disappointed me.

Anyway, our sickness did not surprise me, because a host of flies had welcomed me to this butchery. The smell inside the butchery was unbearable. I had no alternative, as I needed the meat for the Christmas braai. I remembered the December incident on Thursday, when Minister of Agriculture Mandla Tshawuka issued a statement reversing the ban on slaughtering cattle within the butchery premises or outside thereof.

I wished I would have given him a piece of the meat that I ate on Christmas. He would have issued the statement from an experiential perspective, having gone through what I am talking about. I wish I could have also served Cabinet with the same meat. World Health Organisation (WHO) emphasises on food safety. Health inspectors are trained and employed to ensure people are safe from contaminated food.

We all know, for sure, that food poisoning is an illness that is caused by eating contaminated food. Symptoms of food poisoning often include upset stomach, diarrhea and vomiting. Symptoms usually start within hours or several days of eating the food. Most people have mild illness and get better without treatment, but food poisoning sometimes causes severe illness or complications.

Doctors say people sometimes die from food poisoning. As a result of foodborne illness, the CDC says 128 000 Americans are hospitalised and 3 000 die each year.

Illnesses

Foodborne illnesses are prevalent in Africa. The continent has the world’s highest per capita rate of foodborne illnesses. In their research article titled “Responsiveness to Food Safety Emergencies in Eswatini— The Case of Listeriosis Outbreak in South Africa,” - Tendekayi Henry Gadagal and Anthony N. Mutukumira have a clear definition of food safety.

They say food safety is defined as assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer, when it is prepared and eaten according to its intended use from ‘farm to fork’ or the absence of hazards in food, that may harm the health of consumers. This definition is also supported by the Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and WHO.

Gadagal and Mutukumira observe that consumers expect that the food they buy is safe and suitable for consumption. The two scholars point to the fact that food safety is, therefore, important to the food industry and individuals.
They say the existing and emerging food safety hazards, have made it imperative that food safety be prioritised at national, as well as international level. On this basis, they quoted Eddy and Haynes, 2007).

They also mention that food safety hazards of concern can be biological, physical or chemical and that trade in food constitutes a huge global business. Therefore, they warn that food safety hazards in one country, can easily find their way across borders. I hope the minister of Agriculture takes note of this super veracity. According to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), decision-making in food trade disputes, should be based on scientific evidence, including risk analysis and laboratory testing data obtained from accredited laboratories.

In June 2023, there was a crackdown on shops selling contaminated food around Luve. The minister of Agriculture has a mammoth task, as Luve falls under his jurisdiction as an MP for Mkhiweni. Coincidentally, the objection to reinforcement of the law on abattoirs came from a certain Luve strongman. On January 17, 2023, the Times of Eswatini reported that environmental health inspections, through the Ministry of Health, discovered that “most food outlets around Luve were selling expired food products.”

Food inspections were conducted on 41 outlets as part of the campaign of instilling a culture of selling and buying fresh food. All 41 food selling establishments in the Manzini Region, were found not complying with set environmental and health standards. It was said that most of these were found at Luve. The analysis was presented by Manzini Regional Environmental Officer Celiwe Mkhonta.

Inspected

The Manzini Regional Environmental and Health Office conducted inspections at Mahlangatsha, Fakudze, Mankayane, Luve, Mliba, Bhudla and Croydon. The food establishments that were inspected were butcheries, restaurants, supermarkets and bakeries. Disclosing their findings, Mkhonta said the aim of the inspections were to create awareness to the public and to business owners on the importance of selling and purchase of safe products.

Through the inspections, she said they encouraged business owners to keep their food establishments up to an acceptable health standard. The officer said the inspections were aimed at ensuring that customers were protected from foodborne illnesses that were caused by contaminated food.

“This is also to encourage proper waste management in those structures. This exercise will continue to encourage business owners to keep their structures clean. This pertains to clean floors, windows, clean material and equipment used in restaurants,” the officer emphasised as quoted by the Times of Eswatini. Mkhonta was confident that the inspections brought a culture of upholding proper buildings. She was determined that the inspection would be fostered among all the businesses.

This was to entail proper lighting and ventilation respectively, and to avoid cracks on the walls and floors. During the two-day inspections, Mkhonta said they were able to conduct the exercise in seven areas, which covered 41 food selling outlets. They inspected seven supermarkets, three grocery stores, four restaurants, one vendor cart, butchery and one general dealer. On the first day, they visited 17 outlets. On the second day, they inspected 25 food outlets at Luve, Mliba, Bhudla and Croydon.

On Thursday, the Minister of Agriculture, Mandla Tshawuka, noted in his statement that the Directorate of Veterinary and Livestock Services banned the slaughtering of animals at butcheries with effect from January 1, 2024. In fact, I put to the honourable minister that inspectors are supposed to certify meat to be sold to the public. The minister said he had been assured, and had no doubt that the ban was implemented in good faith to reduce the health risks to emaSwati imposed by meat products that might be contaminated, when animals were not slaughtered in the most hygienic way.

I am happy that the minister noted this very crucial fact. At least, he did not dispute this veracity – health hazard.
Tshawuka said the ban was based on the Veterinary Public Health Act 17 of 2013, which conferred powers to the Director of Veterinary and Livestock Services to take appropriate action to safeguard the health of the nation on these matters, among other things. This law was neither passed in 2022 or 2023. It is a pity that its enforcement or application is temporarily halted 11 years after it was enacted. It’s unbelievable!

Legislation

“There are other pieces of legislation that go with this Act, which were considered in arriving at this decision,” the minister mentioned in his statement. He also noted, that this ban, as much as it might be supported by some sections of the stakeholders, had triggered what he described or defined as a general outcry from the public, especially in the primary value chains of the industry.

The minister stated that the levels of distress expressed and business disruption reported, had escalated to a point where he, as the minister, the overall responsible person, had to get involved in finding a solution to an otherwise administrative issue. He then proclaimed the decision he had taken. Tshawuka said he had decided that the situation should revert to the status-quo-ante (before January 1, 2024) to allow for three processes.

These three processes are meant to establish adequate and inclusive stakeholder engagements or consultations, focusing on the impediments relating to the operationalisation of this long-standing legislation and come up with a seamless way of implementing it going forward.

They are to ascertain the adequacy of abattoirs from the perspectives of both sheer numbers and distribution and the Directorate of Veterinary and Livestock Services, under the supervision of the office of the Principal Secretary, shall provide assistance where required for businesses to be ready to transition to the new dispensation, without serious negative effects on their operations and the industry.

The minister mentioned that the ban would be held in abeyance, until the above processes were concluded. He anticipated that the processes would take about four months from at which point a decision would be taken, based on the outcomes of these activities.

Tshawuka said his ministry remained committed to delivering services to the nation and staying true to the commission by the leadership of this Kingdom - that of ending hunger and poverty in the shortest time possible.
I am disappointed that his colleague at the Ministry of Health was not present. There are not so many butcheries in the country.

Find out from the Municipal Council of Mbabane and Manzini, how many butchery- owners make use of the available abbaitors in the cities and towns. The minister would be surprised. The fact of the issue, is that emaSwati do not want to make use of the abattoirs. EmaSwati prefer shortcuts to what they describe as long processes to have the final product in the market.

Therefore, with diseases caused by contaminated meat on the rise, we have a government that suspends adherence to law. Meat is one of the foods that can cause food poisoning. For that matter, doctors have discovered that food poisoning can cause dehydration and kidney failure. Before a person ventures into a butchery business; he or she ought to know his or her legal obligation to conform to health standards. We cannot compromise on health, just because there are insufficient abattoirs in the country.

Pressures

The excuse that butchery-owners travel long distances to abattoirs, does not wash at all. The minister should not have relented to pressures emanating from people who want to contravene the laws of the country at their whim. A law is useless, when it is not enforced and emaSwati deserve better treatment in terms of protection from the Eswatini Government whose minister of Agriculture is an expert in this field.

Consumers outnumber the butchery-owners who successfully lodged a complaint against the application of the law. Must I go to court to force government to obey the law? I do not think it would be neater going that route.
There is a growing tendency in government to disregard the law. Government ministries and their ministers, together with the Boards and their CEOs, started with contravention of the Construction Industry Council Act and Eswatini Public Procurement Regulatory Act. They are always at pains trying to justify why it is necessary to circumvent the law.

We are soon becoming a lawless nation. Those in authority obey the law when it suits them. On the other hand, an ordinary citizen is reprimanded quickly and rebuked instantly for not adhering to the dictates of legislation. Pitifully, hypocrisy has compromised our integrity and it is no longer a laughing matter. I cannot hail a minister for suspending the application of a law that was passed to promote the health of our people. For sure, I cannot.