THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) is set to
investigate GMB senior management and sales representatives in Bulawayo after a
taskforce that was formed to probe the shortage of mealie-meal unearthed that
at least 60 percent of Government subsidised mealie-meal was allegedly being
diverted to the black market.
Bulawayo has been identified as a hotbed of mealie-meal
black market activities with huge stock piles of the subsided mealie meal being
sold on the streets and cash shops dotted around the city centre, while few
shops, mostly retails shops, are selling the product at the official price.
In the few instances where the shops receive the
mealie-meal, it quickly runs out with accusations that shops also sell to traders who in turn sell it on the black
market. Some retail shops also use the product in their deli sections where
they sell isitshwala at high prices.
A 10 kilogramme bag of subsidised mealie-meal is officially
pegged at $50 but is sold at between $65 and $70 in cash only by illegal shops
and street vendors. In the latest development, a maize taskforce led by
Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Raj Modi unearthed a well-orchestrated
roller meal scandal at Silo Foods Industries in Bulawayo where some managers
have allegedly teamed up with sales representatives to divert the subsidised commodity meant for retailers
to the black market.
The taskforce has engaged Zacc over its findings, sources
said. The taskforce last week made a surprise visit at Silo Foods Industries’
factory at Belmont industrial area where it allegedly discovered an invoice
book that was being used by the perpetrators of the scam. It also came across
50kg bags of maize meal, which are suspected to be sold to shadowy retailers
against Government’s directive to millers to supply shops with 20kgs and 10kgs.
“These incidents of fraud are tantamount to stealing food
from the mouths of hungry Zimbabweans. This is corruption at its highest level.
We can’t allow such malpractices to go on unchecked. To this end we have
suspended the sales representative who was getting most of the mealie-meal
allocation from Silo Foods Industries in Bulawayo. We found their (employees
maize meal allocation) explanation absurd and we suspended that arrangement
forthwith. Besides it leads to conflict of interests, fuels the black market
and accelerates inflation. We have also demanded a comprehensive report from
management,” said Deputy Minister Modi.
He said it was disheartening to note that Silo Foods
employees went against the company’s mandate of availing affordable food stuffs
to citizens.
“Silo Foods Industries was formed to provide affordable
food to Zimbabweans who are falling victim to heartless retailers who are out
to profiteer. It is thus saddening to discover that people we tasked with
bringing relief to Zimbabweans are actually oiling the black-market machinery,”
said Deputy Minister Modi.
Silo Foods Industries
started operations in April last year after the Government unbundled GMB
into two entities — Strategic Grain Reserve and Silo Foods Industries as part
of its public enterprise reform programme. Deputy Minister Modi said although
the country was faced with a drought, it has come to the attention of the
taskforce that some of the food shortages were self-inflicted by some
unscrupulous individuals.
“The shortage of mealie-meal has nothing to do with
drought, all of this is man-made. All of this has to do with corrupt
individuals in positions of authority who don’t put people’s interests at the
core of their actions. It’s a disgrace, criminal, it’s wrong, and it needs to
end,” he fumed.
A snap survey by the Sunday News at most black-market
thriving places in Bulawayo revealed that the Silo brand of mealie-meal
together with other brands was in abundance while most shops have gone for over
two months without the commodity.
GMB general manager Mr Rockie Mutenha told Sunday News that
the rate of black-market activities involving maize meal in Bulawayo was
alarming. He said he was not sure how their product was found on the black
market in abundance.
“What is happening with the people in Bulawayo is that
somehow some of them buy mealie-meal in bulk and channel it to the black market
and it’s even sold in the dead of the night. We are bringing in maize and
milling it but unfortunately, we can’t do anything about black market
activities, that has to be dealt with at policy level,” he said.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Mr Denford
Mutashu who is also part of the taskforce committee said there was a need for
Government to increase maize imports into the country so as to curb black
market activities.
“We are putting all the resources in ensuring that the
country has enough maize and to make sure that what has been milled actually
follows a proper distribution pattern. We don’t know the origins of the maize
meal, which is found on the black market. What we (retailers) are receiving
from the millers is exactly what we are selling to the consumers.
“We have some players that have also decided to go across
borders to bring in mealie-meal, so we also have brands from South Africa and
Botswana. We believe that at some stage the market will saturate. So far there
are gaps but once the market saturates all the challenges will begin falling
out but we cannot expect that to happen as long as there isn’t enough maize in
the country to mill.”
National Consumer Rights Association (Nacora) advocacy
advisor, Mr Effie Ncube accused some unscrupulous millers and retailers of
feeding the informal sector with maize meal culminating in the artificial shortage
of the commodity on the formal market.
“The rampant black-market activities involving mealie-meal
tells us that the eradication of corruption should be of the uppermost
priority. There are millers and supermarkets that are colluding with black
market players to sell mealie-meal in cash. They deliver it straight to the
black market or hide it in the storerooms and deliver it later on the dark
alleys,” he said.
Mr Ncube added that: “Government and Zacc must come down
hard on these unscrupulous and unethical business practices.”
Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association executive director
Mr Michael Mdladla Ndiweni refuted claims that the rampant black-market
activities were being perpetrated by vendors, shifting the blame to retailers
whom he accused of fuelling black market activities in pursuit of generating
foreign currency using unorthodox ways. He said some shops and millers had
“runners” selling the commodity in foreign currency in and outside the city.
“It’s not true that the entire black market is perpetrated
by vendors and informal traders because we have traders who are renting and
selling inside shops which is a legitimate business. The other thing is that
some goods you see on the black market like mealie-meal are taken out from
retail shops by managers and shop owners and are sold in foreign currency. So,
it is not fair to use vendors who are struggling to make ends as scapegoats,”
he said. Sunday Mail
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