The rotten state of Utrecht’s abattoir
The packing floor is a riot of shredded foam, polystyrene and plastic baskets.
On Utrecht’s Luttig Street, the skeletal remains of an abattoir rot.
Mouldering ruins littered with vehicle carcasses, mark what was once a thriving business and a beacon of possibility for the community.
The sad reality is, the abattoir has been utterly vandalised.
Contact information left behind at the site provide little in the way of answers, beyond numerous search results about a meat supplier.
However, a few locals have provided their explanations.
“To my knowledge, there was a problem between the (eMadlangeni) municipality and the owners, over electricity theft totalling R80-million. The owners simply left the site and the business died off,” stated DA councillor, Pat Collins.
Similarly, representatives of AfriForum said contention over money owed, resulted in the owner declaring bankruptcy and a take-over of the site by the government sector.
Reportedly, authorities intended to have the abattoir run as community project.
“It was a working abattoir and gave people jobs; now it is a shambles.”
Like bones picked clean, a fleet of delivery trucks have been stripped down to rusting shells, bleaching in the sun.
Some still carry branding of the former owners.
Shattered glass, crumbling brick, tile shards and clumps of cement litter open areas around the abattoir site, cobwebs strung between undisturbed sections.
The packing floor is a riot of shredded foam, polystyrene and plastic baskets.
“The abattoir had a security guard who left, and the vehicles and factory have been stripped of all equipment,” Cllr Collins added.
With exposed roofing beams swaying and creaking dangerously, it is uncertain what fate awaits the abattoir, beyond providing a haven to vagrants.
A homeless man has already taken residence of a vacant trailer.
The eMadlangeni Municipality was approached for response on events leading to the abandonment of the abattoir, but no answers were forthcoming.
