Security and veterinary officers have been deployed in strategic areas to monitor the movement of cattle and milk products. Scarcity has led to increased prices.Following the regional border controls, butchery owners in Ngamiland buy meat from neighbouring districts like Gantsi and Central District. The owner of Duck Pond Butchery in Maun, Otukile Mashihi says they struggle to get supplies. He says they source meat from places like Mopipi in the central district and this is a very costly exercise.
He added that they also spend money on transport. Mashihi says they pay between P7 and P13 per kilo of beef. They have also been forced to increase their prices. The Maun businessman said at the moment, he does not blame the government for their predicament. Tjieseaa Kazembi, who used to supply butcheries with cattle, said his business has been greatly harmed. Kazembi also supplied supermarkets like Choppies. He says before the outbreak of the disease, he had bought some cattle to supply his customers. He says since the restriction was imposed, he cannot sell those cattle. He has to look somewhere else for stock. He says he is now buying cattle from Central District. He said the cattle they keep without selling are a burden because they have to maintain them. He added that the cattle also go astray. Kazembi said they are in trouble because some of them have loans from the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) and now they have difficulty repaying the money. He suggested that government should come up with relief measures to bail them out.
