SENATORS QUESTION MEALIE MEAL PERMITS

LOBAMBA – Senate is not happy with the introduction of permits to import mealie meal from neighbouring South Africa.

The senators made this known during the passing of a motion on the regulations of importing maize meal from South Africa yesterday.
According to the Senate, the permits won’t make life easier for the many Swazis, who are currently facing the drought situation.

“Permits are only good for Swazis who are into business and not those who are suffering from hunger. People are dying left right and centre so it is not a good time to be changing policies,” said mover of the motion, Senator Meninjeni Mahlalela.
Senate Deputy President Ngomuyayona Gamedze said even though he was thankful that the Ministry of Agriculture was working hard in solving the problem of importing mealie meal, he was concerned that the House was not involved in most of the decisions taken.

He said Parliament was supposed to be involved in the regulations to introduce the permits due to the fact that it was representing the people.
The senators also came down hard on the minister for increasing the limit of mealie meal to be imported from 20 kilogrammes to 50 kilogrammes, saying it was not enough.

They demanded to know what the ministry based the limit on and if it had done proper consultations on how much Swazis consumed before introducing it.
“The minister needs to understand that most Swazis come from big families so there is a need to consider how long 50 kilogrammes of mealie meal will last.  We are faced with drought, which means it is still going to take months before people can plough, so the restriction might not be suitable in this era,” said Senator Prince Fipha.

Senator Bonisile Mngometulu asked the minister if his ministry was working hand-in-hand with that of Home Affairs in order to avoid situations where Swazis would end up using illegal ways of importing the mealie meal due to hunger.
Minister of Health Sibongile Simelane also supported the submission that the 50-kilogramme limit was not enough, saying it would affect many Swazis, who would have to travel many times to buy the mealie meal.
Other concerns, which were raised by senators, touched on what the ministry was doing in order to ensure that it knew in advance, challenges like drought, before they hit the country.
In response, Minister of Agriculture Moses Vilakati assured senators that his ministry was going to look into the motion.

He explained that his office spent so much time trying to solve the issue of mealie meal in the country, and that they were aware of it a long time ago.
On the issue of the permits, he informed senators that Swazis were not going to face difficulties because permits would be available at the border.
“We introduced permits because we did not want to make people’s lives difficult.  All countries have laws on their staple food and we did our best to be proactive in everything.

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