The aftermath of buffalo in Zone 11
Lebogang Baingapi | Friday April 29, 2016 13:57
We look at the aftermath of the ban in Jwaneng where there was public famine of red meat. Mmegi learnt that the past three weeks had been tough for the community. Slaughter facilities were temporarily closed and customers were met by empty fridges in butcheries while some businesses closed down awaiting an order from the government
A number of local butcheries in the small mining town were closed down are resurrecting this week, while local restaurants served only white meat.
When we visited one of the leading chain stores, Pick n Pay, there was only chicken and turkey meat which obviously suggests that they were also affected by the ordeal. Customers could not contain their disappointment for the delay in releasing the results that could ultimately allow slaughtering of animals again.
One of the residents, Gofaone Mokani, said she could not feed on chicken anymore.
She alludes that for the past three weeks, it was not easy and they supplemented chicken with vegetables and tin staff. They have had enough.
Karabo Oageng’s concern was that there was no regular update on the issue and he hoped that the government would keep an eye on the situation that it does not occur again, as this has the potential to also affect farmers in a long term.
He said government initiatives such as poverty eradication, Youth Development Fund and LIMID were likely to be affected if keeping wildlife safe from livestock was not made a priority because they will have nowhere to sell and the economy will be affected.
Pick n Pay Jwaneng store manager, Galekgathege Segaise, admitted that there was shortage of meat and he added that they resorted to sell chicken and turkey and transferred the little beef they had to their kitchen. He said it has affected their sales for the past weeks.
“We have even allowed our butchery staff to take leave from work because there was less manpower needed.
As for our kitchen department, the little red meat left won’t sustain us forever so we have decided to prepare chicken in different tastes like fried, grilled, stew, intestines and chicken feet to keep the business going,” he said.
Choppies Jwaneng store manager, Thebeetsile Mokoya, also felt hard done by the outcome, stating that they did not know how to explain the nightmare to the customers.
He said they ordered liver from Botswana Meat Commission which were mainly left overs of the cattle slaughtered before the ban.
“Our sales were tremendously affected because 30 percent of our sales are from beef,” he said. “We are happy that business will resurrect and we will offer our customers their daily meat.”