MPs turn spotlight on migrants fleeing South Africa

Malawi Parliament reopened today for its Third Meeting of the 52nd Session, and the mood in the chamber quickly turned serious as lawmakers confronted one of the most emotive issues on the agenda: the flood of Malawians returning home after xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

Speaker Sameer Suleman kicked off the four-week sitting by laying out a packed programme — unfinished business from earlier meetings, a ministerial statement on inland water transport, committee reports, petitions, constituency statements and the usual round of questions to ministers.

New bills are also expected before the House rises.

Suleman singled out the Public Accounts Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee probing the Chikangawa plane crash for praise, holding them up as the standard other committees should be matching if Parliament’s oversight muscle is to mean anything.

He also had a warning for absentee MPs and a reminder to committees to stick to proper channels when dealing with outside stakeholders — and dropped in the news that Lilongwe will host roughly 300 delegates for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Africa Region Conference at the Bingu International Convention Centre, August 9–16.

1. But it was Foreign Affairs Minister George Chaponda’s statement on the repatriation of Malawians from South Africa that dominated the floor.

   

Leader of the Opposition Simplex Chithyola Banda didn’t hold back, reminding the House that Malawians helped build South Africa and calling the treatment they’re now getting a betrayal — pointing out that South African firms operating in Malawi rely on the goodwill of the very citizens now under attack elsewhere. Malawians, he said, “will not fight back.”

Chithyola pressed government to lean on Pretoria for protection and compensation for Malawians who lost property in the violence, and to budget properly for supporting returnees once they’re back on Malawian soil.