FOOD SHORTAGES IF BORDER BLOCKADE GOES ON

MBABANE – Following the threat to bring business to a standstill by South African truck drivers through staging a border blockade, there are concerns of looming food shortages.

This is because the kingdom imports a bulk of its food supplies from neighbouring South Africa, whose truck drivers have threatened not to allow any trucks to either enter or leave the republic, in protest over the hiring of foreign nationals.

As such, consumers have been advised to purchase long-life products and to adjust on their expenditure patterns. Swaziland Consumer Association Chairman Bongani Bhanyaza Mdluli said consumers needed to be thoughtful in their spending and avoid spending recklessly.
Mdluli said in consideration of the situation which might be faced in the coming months should the border blockade be a reality, consumers needed to plan properly.

Challenges

He said buying in bulk was also another way of overcoming the looming challenges to ensure that they had enough food supplies but the challenge was that some goods were perishable, hence consumers should try by all means to purchase non-perishables.

Mdluli said this could also be a chance for other businesspeople to smuggle in sub-standard and expired goods, something which was not encouraged.
He said they were hoping that whatever impasse that existed would be solved as soon as possible but in the event it was not; “We need to find means to survive this as a country.”

According to Mdluli, Eswatini had a challenge of becoming foods secure and not rely on neighbouring countries. Mdluli said it was high time that Eswatini considered producing local products which would sustain the country and not rely heavily on imported goods. “There is namBoard which is encouraging farmers to produce enough and this is an opportunity in itself and an eye-opener for many emaSwati,” said Mdluli. 

He said if the border blockade was carried out, this would greatly affect many consumers and local retail stores as they also relied mostly on South Africa in terms of sourcing a number of goods. Further, he pointed out that when the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) staged a border blockade some years ago, the country suffered immensely through fuel shortages.

Meanwhile, major local retailers are nursing hopes that the blockage would not be a reality.
Buy&Save Spar Branch Sales Manager Johan Lues said if the blockade was carried out as planned for a much longer period, it would affect everyone. Lues said he could only advise consumers to purchase long-life products as groceries would not be a problem should the strike be short-lived.

Imported

He said items which had a short-term shelve life of about 10 days, including milk, yoghurt and cheese among other items, would be a challenge as they were imported from South Africa. Lues said there was no contingency plan that could be put in place on the perishable goods as they had a specific lifespan.
“We can only pray and hope that the issues are resolved within 10 days,” he said.

Pick N Pay Assistant Manager Sharon Manana said should the intended blockade continue, it would be a huge blow and their prayer was that it was stopped. Manana said they had no contingency plan at hand and their goods were delivered three times a week.

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