Africa-Press – Lesotho. Maseru street vendors had expressed dissatisfaction over the government’s food parcels, saying they are not enough for their big families. Through the directive of
the Prime Minister ‘s office, the Ministry of Small Businesses Development, Cooperatives and Marketing had from last week handed over food parcels to street vendors as an aid during the national lockdown.
Speaking to Informative Newspaper, Maseru Street Vendors (MSV) Chairperson Paneng Molefi said around 6000 to 7000 street vendors were given food parcels inclusive of 12,5kg maize meal and 5kg of beans as an
instruction from the Prime Minister Dr. Moeketsi Majoro. Molefi indicated that all street vendors will be given the same packages in all the districts.
The Street Vendor Puseletso Maisa who sells fruits and vegetables said she appreciates the food parcels, “however, the challenge is that some of us have big families, we are
seven in my family, that is, my husband, children and grandchildren and there are some families I know that are bigger than mine, you can imagine how long this
food will last”. Maisa further said the worst part is the lockdown extension when they had hoped to get back to work saying they had nothing to eat at all, she pleaded that at least they should be
given more food. She said before it rained they made fire for cooking and now when rains are pouring non-stop they have nothing to cook with. Maisa worried that
it is going to be the greatest struggle to get back on her feed as her stock has perished and therefore ended up feeding her pigs the raw goods. Meanwhile, some vendors
were denied access to food parcels on account that they were unfamiliar to the market colleagues. According to Molefi, those did not even own permits.
He said every vendor’s name was registered and that means they are not telling the truth. He also indicated that they have committees which sometimes hold meetings where they get to see and know each other.
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