Genetically Modified Maize

Der Unfall eines LKW, der mit 36 t Mais beladen war, macht im Moment Schlagzeilen in den Medien. Diesmal keine Katastrophe auf der schwierigen Strecke von Südafrika ins Swasiländische Industriegebiet, da der Fahrer mit leichten Verletzungen ins Krankenhaus kam.
Ich werde die Meldung so einstellen, wie sie im Observer stand. Die Reporterin  hat sauber recherchiert und berichtet. Ein PR-Gau für die Futtermittelindustrie in diesem Land. Und den weltweit agierenden Maisproduzenten genmanipulierter Sorten ist das bestimmt sehr unangenehm. Doch lest selber!

36 tonnes GM maize looted in minutes

18/09/2016 03:00:00STORIES BY THEMBEKA DLAMINI

Hundreds of the Sidvwashini residents helping themselves to maize which spilt on the road after a truck overturned after 7am yesterday morning. The road was clean within an hour. (Pics: Thembeka Dlamini)

Hundreds of Sidvwashini residents and passersby flocked an accident scene yesterday morning under the Limkokwing-Engen Garage foot bridge and looted E140 000 worth of yellow maize destined for FeedMasters in Matsapha.
Mbabane bound traffic came to a standstill after a truck carrying 36tonnes of genetically modified yellow maize failed to negotiate the corner after a suspected tyre burst and landed on its side blocking the two lanes while spilling its consignment on the road.  The force of the accident spread the maize several directions as some was found over 40 metres away.
Immediately after the accident, a handful of residents, who were alerted by the loud screech of the rim against tar and subsequent banging of the carriage as the truck landed on its side, approached the scene and on noting that the consignment was of maize, ran home to collect an assortment of containers while others called for the same to be delivered using their cellular phones.
“Ngisayogaya, bantfwana balambile,” a woman, who only offered her identity as laVilakati, said as soon as she had secured 50kg of the loot.
Several children, who confessed to have been sent by their parents as they were able to run to the scene quicker, were also found using their hands and buckets as scoops in order to collect as much maize as they could.
The arrival of police officers failed to deter the looters as there seemed to only be a handful with only one armed with a gun against the multitudes.
Attempts to stop them from collecting the maize ended up looking like a spectacle of fun as looters ran circles around two officers, one armed and the other with a stick, who earnestly tried to stop them whereas their colleagues noted that their efforts would be useless and accepted to watch helplessly.
As residents collected in sacks, buckets and wheel barrows, some drivers who initially slowed down due to the traffic congestion, came to a complete halt around the accident scene and used anything they came across to collect the maize into their car boots. Most, due to the absence of containers, poured the maize grain directly into their cars.
Some of the residents who seemed to have collected more than what they needed immediately set-up stations along the concrete barriers and advertised by calling out that their maize was for sale.
With the first looters getting relatively clean maize, stragglers seemed undeterred by oil stained maize with most saying they were collecting it for their chickens.

 Driver hurt, rushed to Mbabane Government Hospital

The lone driver of the truck, which lost its consignment of yellow maize destined for FeedMasters in Matsapha, was injured on his legs.
According to Traffic Officer Constable Londi Vilakati, their preliminary investigations attributed the accident to speeding.
Of note is that, despite the faint drizzle, the road was dry thus ruling out slippery conditions.

Negotiate

“The driver said he was not used to the road and failed to negotiate the corner,” Vilakati said while reiterating that speed was the major cause.
On the other hand FeedMasters Raw Material Coordinator Thulani Nkambule discounted that the driver could have been sleeping.
“He called me before 7am and told me that he was waking up from his house beyond Ngwenya Border on the South African side and would arrive at Matsapha shortly,” Nkambule said. He revealed that the consignment was from Witbank and it was intended for animal feed.

 We are hungry, don’t care about GM

Several people who were told not to eat the maize said they had no choice as they had no food.
“Even though it is yellow maize and that thing (genetically modified) you are telling me about, I am on my way to have it milled so that my children can eat,” a woman said. She said she found the justification not to eat the maize weak. “Which animals were going to eat this? Are we not in turn going to eat the animals intended for this feed? If it is poison, why are they giving it to animals then,” the woman said as she told her children to stand guard over the several buckets of maize she had collected.

Understand

She said she would understand if she had picked the oiled stained maize which was at the bottom of the spilt pile; “This maize is clean and I will only clean-off some of the visible dirt, otherwise it is good enough for me to eat,” she said defiantly.

 Food more important than water

Several residents from Sidvwashini who used buckets to loot maize at the accident scene confessed to have spilt out their water in order to collect the maize.
"I can get water anytime from the water tanks,” an unperturbed Wandile Dlamini said. He said he had spilt out about 100litres in order to collect the maize.
Sidwashini was yesterday on its third day of the cyclical four-day water rationing and looters came with basins and buckets as well. The rationing in Mbabane was effected by the Swaziland Water Services Corporation (SWSC) after Hawane Dam dried up gradually. This past Thursday, the corporation revealed that Hawane was at 1% and only good rains could save the situation.

Looted maize sold at scene

Notables like former Swaziland Women Economic Empowerment Trust (SWEET) Bank General Managers Mduduzi Kunene were heard negotiating for an estimated 70kg consignment which he had offered to buy for E350.
During the loud exchange, Kunene seemed to be dissatisfied that the maize he had successfully ‘bid’ for was being reduced in scale.
“Ukudojile yemake lomuntfu, muningi kakhulu lombila kutsi angawutsatsa wonkhe nga E350,” a man who seemed to have disturbed the transaction said. During the exchange, more maize was being taken by another who seemed to have also promised to pay for it.
When asked what he would do about the maize, a preoccupied Kunene said he wanted to use it as animal feed.

Disappointed

Simon Lukhele* said he was disappointed that he couldn’t get any maize. “I was here less than 30 minutes ago and I rushed to Nkoyoyo to get maize sacks only to return and find a nearly clean road,” he said as he went around trying to buy a few sacks from those who waited on the boundary of the accident. A mountain of maize was later seen at the car wash behind KaSonny while at a nearby homestead, a woman who had clearly been in the process of washing her clothes in a basin outside had spilled out water from her buckets and collected maize in them.

 

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