The Economist - UK (2022-04-16)

42 MiddleEast&Africa TheEconomistApril16th 2022

“I

amdistraughtbecauseI amabout

tofinishmylastjar,”saysIrineMbo­

weni,a residentofJohannesburgand

motheroftwo.“ThereisnoMarmiteon

theshelvesandI donotknowwhatto

do.”Amidthemanytragediesbefalling

theworld,a shortageofglossydarkgoo

tospreadonbreadissurelysmallbeer.

ButnottothemillionsofSouthAfricans

who,quiteinexplicably,likethesalty

sludgeandarestrugglingtocopewith

theworstMarmiteshortagesincethe

endofapartheid.

Thelove­it­or­loathe­itspread,in­

ventedinBritainatthestartofthe20th

century,isanextractofyeast.Itismost

commonlyeatenspreadthinlyonbut­

teredtoast,butit canalsobeusedtoadd

a rich,vegan­friendlyumamiflavourto

soups,stewsandsauces.

InSouthAfricaMarmiteisindeed

thinlyspread.Shoppersfirstnotedshort­

agesatthebeginningofthecovid­19

pandemic,whenSouthAfricabanned

alcoholsalesinanattempttofreeup

bedsinhospitalsthatwouldotherwise

befilledwithtipsydriversordrunken

brawlers.Thebanhadanunexpected

consequence.Withbeersalesonice,

SouthAfrica’smainbreweriessharply

reducedtheirproduction.Withmuch

lesslagerfermentingintheirvats,they

werealsoproducingfarlessbrewer’s

yeast,thebeeryby­productthatisthe

mainingredientofMarmite.

Throughthecourseofthepandemic,

SouthAfricaimposedfourseparate

alcoholbans,eachoneofwhichdealta

blowtoMarmiteproduction.Nine

monthssincetheliftingofthelastprohi­

bition,productionoughttohavereco­

vered,allowingshopstorefilltheir

shelves.Yetit hasnot.Whenyourcorre­

spondentrecentlywalkedtheaislesof 15

grocerystoresinJohannesburg, 12 hadno

Marmiteatall.Inthethreeremaining

shopsa totalofjustsevenjarscouldbe

found,ofwhichthreeappeartohave

escapedpurchasebyhidingbehindjars

ofBovril,a beef­basedcousinofMar­

mite.Thebranchmanagerofa largestore

ineasternJohannesburgsaysthatdeliv­

eriesstilldribbleinbutflyofftheshelves

inaninstant.

Thattheshortagecontinuesisbe­

causeofanotherhiccupinthesupply

chain.PioneerFoods,thelocalmanufac­

turerofMarmite,reportedlysaidthatits

productionhasbeenslowedbya short­

ageofsodiumcarbonate,whichisused

inthemanufacturingprocess.Muckrak­

ingbytheDailyMaverick, a localpaper

betterknownforexposingpolitical

scandalsthanforscrutinisingsand­

wiches,foundthatintermittentcutsin

thewatersupplywerealsoaffectingthe

country’sonlyMarmitefactory.

Perhaps,though,somegoodmayyet

emergefromSouthAfrica’sforceddietof

drybread.Ina countrythatisoften

dividedalonglinesofraceorwealth,all

boundariesaretranscendedbylove(or

hatred)ofMarmite.“Whetherblackor

white,richorpoor,mostSouthAfricans

havea jarofMarmiteintheircupboard,”

saysMrsMboweni.Yourcorrespondent

willneitherconfirmnordenysnagging

Johannesburg’slastsevenjars.Sufficeit

tosaythatMrsMboweniisnolonger

shortofsludge.

SouthAfrica

Marmageddon

J OHANNESBURG

ThereisnoendinsightforthenationwideMarmiteshortage

Ethiopia’scivilwar

Horrorheapedon

horror

T

heluckyoneswerefrogmarchedonto

busesanddrivenacrosstheriver.The

lessfortunatewereslungintodetention

campsandlefttheretorot.Otherswere

murderedinthestreetsorhackedtodeath

astheycoweredintheirhomes.“Wedon’t

needa singleoneofthemanymore,”a mi­

litiamantolda foreignresearcherlastyear.

“Theycannotbetrusted.”

SincethestartofEthiopia’sbloodycivil

war 18 monthsago,therehavebeenfre­

quentallegationsofethniccleansingtar­

getingpeoplefromthenorthernregionof

Tigray.Antony Blinken,America’ssecre­

taryofstate,firstlevelledthischargemore

thanayearago, infuriatingthegovern­

ment of Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime

minister, which strongly denied it. Be­

causethegovernmenthasimposeda tight

blockadeoftheregion,ithasbeenhardto

assesstheclaimsofatrocities.Butsome

horrifyinghintshaveemerged,suchasthe

corpseswiththeirhandsboundthathave

washeduponriverbanksinSudan.

NowathoroughinvestigationbyHu­

manRightsWatchandAmnestyInterna­

tional,twopressuregroups,leaveslittle

doubtoftheenormitiescommittedbygov­

ernmentforcesandtheirallies.Thejoint

report,publishedonApril6th,concludes

thatauthoritiesfromtheAmhararegion

havesystematicallykilledorevictedhun­

dreds ofthousands ofethnic Tigrayans

fromterritoryseizedfromTigraysincethe

startofthewar.Thecampaign,carriedout

withtheconnivanceoffederalauthorities,

wasasmethodicalasitwasbrutal.Notices

orderingTigrayansto leavewerepinned

aroundtowns.FreshlyappointedAmhara

officialshandedouttitledeedsforplotsof

stolenland.Identificationcardsweregiv­

entonewAmharaarrivals,butdeniedto

Tigrayans, whowerepreventedfromre­

ceivingaidandgovernmentservices.The

newauthoritiesevengrantedpermitsfor

shipments oflootedsesame, alucrative

cashcropattheheartoftheterritorialdis­

putebetweenthetworegions.

Thismattersnotonlybecauseofthe

frightfulhumantoll.Thecontestedarea,

knownofficiallyasWesternTigraybefore

thewar,isnowarguablythebiggestobsta­

cletoendingtheconflict.“It’sdefinitely

thethorniestissue,”saysa seniorofficialof

the ruling party. Both sides have long

claimedthisland.Botharehardeningtheir

stances.Justdaysbeforethe reportwas

published Amhara investigators an­

nounced the discovery of mass graves,

whichtheyallegecontaintheremainsof

AmharasmurdereddecadesagobytheTi­

grayanPeople’sLiberationFront(tplf), the

party­cum­militiathatrunsTigray.

Meanwhile,hundredsofthousandsof

Tigrayans arestarving. A “humanitarian

truce”thatstartedonMarch24thisalready

teetering. The government has allowed

justoneaidconvoytoenterTigray(thefirst

sincemid­December)andhasbeenwith­

holding permission for more until the

tplfwithdrawstoTigray.Thetplfwants

aidtoflowfreelybeforeitpullsbacken­

tirely, ideallyin tandemwith thewith­

drawalofAmharaforcesfromWesternTi­

gray.Withouta breakthroughtoeasethe

blockade,thehorrorofethnic cleansing

willbematchedbyanequallygrotesque

abuse:deliberate,massstarvation.n

A DDISABABA

Widespreadethniccleansingmay

maketheconflicthardertoend

Tigray

Amhara

Afar

Mekele

Semera

Main

road

Red Sea

ian

ed*

ERITREA

SUDAN

ETHIOPIA

Accesstohumanitarian

aidishighlyrestricted*

State

boundary

100 km

Food insecurity, Feb-May 0 f ’cast

Sources:FEWS NET; OCHA *At Mar 2022

Emergency Crisis

Stressed Minimal