Cattle farmers unhappy with guidelines

SCHULZENDAL –  SEBA Farming, a national Christian community care organisation, took this mission upon themselves to represent the local up and coming farmers, in airing their grievances with the restrictive laws imposed on them because of the fear of foot-and-mouth disease.

This organisation is not only involved in cattle farming to benefit communities throughout South Africa, but also grows fruit and vegetables to sell at radically reduced prices in rural areas and where the need is the greatest, they supply it for free.

Mr Jonathan Powys of SEBA Farming, represented the farmers at various institutions and with prospective buyers.

“I had invited some of the officials from the Department of Agriculture and all other relevant stakeholders to join us. We wanted to talk to them, because we want a solution. Our cows will die, it is winter, there is no grass and they say they don’t care it is not their cows,” Powys explained officials’ response to the farmers. He made it clear that all existing channels which have been pursued in order to sell the area’s livestock, had been exhausted..

“That is why we had invited them to be here with us. We are their people and we have to live, how do they expect us and want us to live. We live from our cows, if we can’t sell our cows, how should we live?” Powys asked.

Powys added that they were not against the laws imposed, but were asking government for a way to also make a living.

“If any of the officials here, we would ask them that if our cattle die, will they raise them from the dead? And this will start an uprising, because some of farmers here are youngsters, and they will take up this matter very seriously,” said the chairman of the meeting, Mr Mandlaenkosi Magagula, also a farmer.

Responding to some of the questions and arguments brought up by the farmers, Mr Colleen Mkhabela of the Mpumalanga Veterinary Services, said only time would help to resolve the situation.

“Last week Tuesday the premier of the province, Mr David Mabuza, announced that South Africa would soon be able to export meat to other countries. This means a number of restrictions will also be lifted, because here in South Africa we live by producing food. We have livestock and crops and all the African countries purchase food from us. So slowly things will begin to open up and we will be able to sell our meat beyond the Nkomazi border,” Mkhabela explained.

Mkhabela proposed that an abattoir would be an excellent solution in the meantime. However, the farmers opposed this as this has been tried before without success.

Corridor Gazette had previously reported about an abattoir in the Nkomazi area which had been erected at a cost of millions as part of the programme to return people to the land.

This abattoir is now standing empty and its state-of-the-art equipment is going to ruin. As none of the other stakeholders were present to speak for themselves, and Mkhabela could only provide limited answers, the farmers decided to form a committee to visit all the relevant departments in a bid to find a solution to the current problem.