Animals to die at Municipal farm

Despite SPCA Nigel’s efforts to remove dead and seriously ill pigs from a municipal farm in October, it did not prevent farm owners to re-stock the ill maintained farm.
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) acquired the Spaarwater farm two years ago for R10 million and appointed David Qata (private partner) as the operations manager of the farm.
Qata’s lack of interest and mismanagement caused over 30 pigs to die from thirst and starvation over recent months.
The farm has had no electricity since February affecting water pumps supplying the farm from a nearby dam.
On November 21 Wally Labuschagne received a call from SPCA kennel manager Lynette Potgieter stating new pig stock has been delivered in the interim although the farm has no water or electricity.
Labuschagne made contact with Qata on November 21 who claimed the pigs currently on the farm belong to private owners who rent pig pens from him.
“The problem we have is not how Qata goes about his business, but rather that he is prioritising rental income above the welfare of animals. There are currently more than 80 pigs on the farm with limited food and no water”, Wally said.
According to Potgieter a pig needs 25 litres per day to survive and currently these pigs go days without water.
“The animals can become a health risk to the residents and if meat of slaughtered animals are consumed, the health risk can be enormous,” Potgieter said.
SPCA Nigel and the local municipality were working together to temporarily solve the problem.
“We transported 925 litres of water in 25 litre containers to the farm on November 21 which will sustain the 80 pigs for one day. We won’t be able to supply water on a continuous basis as our finances do not allow it and would rather see the EMM permanently resolve this issue”, Potgieter added.
“EMM is aware of the situation, and they carry knowledge of the regulations that has been violated in the process. Despite this we still have not received any substantial response from EMM”, Labuschagne said.
Qata has not responded to SPCA Nigel’s request for clarity on a time frame when the problem will be resolved and the challenge persists indefinitely.