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‘SLAUGHTERING BAN WAS WRONG FROM THE START’

By PHEPHILE MOTAU | 2024-11-05

Minister of Agriculture Mandla Tshawuka says the decision to ban butcheries from slaughtering livestock on their farms, compelling them to use abattoirs was wrong from the start and should have never been enforced.

The ban enforced by Veterinary Services came into effect on January 1, and was hardly two weeks later, it withdrawn by the minister on January 11 following public outcry.

The ban was based on the Veterinary Public Health Act of 2013, which makes provision for ensuring high level of consumer protection with regard to food safety and improving the quality of life for the public by facilitating advanced methods of primary production in the food chain of animal origin.

With tensions rising between the minister and veterinarians, who strongly argue that their decision to enforce the ban was based on the law, the minister has come out to say he was never consulted.

Tshawuka further stated that the Principal Secretary, Sydney Simelane, was also not consulted whereas he was the ministry’s controlling officer.

The minister said he only got to learn about the ban after the public outcry from butchery owners and farmers and enquired from the principal secretary on the issue only to discover that he was also in the dark and had not been informed or consulted.

The principal secretary, according to the minister, also had to enquire from other people what the fuss was all about.

“As a minister, I am just a political figure and maybe that was why I was never consulted. However, the principal secretary is the administrator of the ministry and should know everything that happens,” the minister argued.

He said the fact that the principal secretary was also never consulted indicates that there was a problem in the system.

He further questioned the reasons behind what he described as the ‘haphazard implementation of a law that had been there since 2013.

Shortage
Minister Tshawuka further explained that the law had not been implemented over the years because there were conditions that had to be met first on the ground, making an example of the shortage of abattoirs in the country.

He made an example of a butchery owner or farmer from Msahweni (Northern) who would be forced to travel to Mbabane to have his livestock slaughtered because that is where the closest abattoir is.

“The law should be implemented without putting Emaswati out of business and not just haphazardly,” argued the minister.

He said this would cause congestion in the available abattoirs and also cause further costs to the owners of the livestock.

He emphasised that after a law is enacted, there needs to be regulations for its operationalisation as well as the relevant infrastructure.

A law, according to the minister, cannot be implemented without consulting with the relevant stakeholders; hence he lifted the ban to allow for that process.

The minister went on to state that some abattoirs were also acting as retailers hence competing with butchery owners.

He said it was possible that they would send back butchery owners from their abattoirs because they were their competition.

Tshawuka said butcheries also offer better money to farmers than abattoirs and when they compete for the same livestock, there would be a problem.

“I acted in the interest of the country by stopping the ban. The butchery owners would have extra costs of travelling with their livestock to abattoirs. Sometimes they do not get help on the same day, and have to travel again.

These costs would all be passed down to the consumer,” the minister further articulated. By lifting the ban, the minister said, it does not mean butchery owners and farmers should disregard health standards as per the law when going about their business.

“By lifting the ban, we are trying to fix the infrastructure first before the law can be implemented,” he clarified.

The minister went on to explain that a committee had been formed and was overseen by the principal secretary to conduct and come up with solutions.

He said they decided that butcheries should have concrete slabs for slaughtering as a temporary solution until there were enough abattoirs.
Director of Veterinary and Livestock Services, Dr Xolani Dlamini, was reluctant to comment on the matter.

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