Drought leaves butcheries short of meat

The manager of Sandy's Butchery Factory, Garph Loser, blames the situation on drought that has hit cattleposts that supply this mining town with livestock for slaughter. Loser told Mmegi this week that pasture has withered and watering holes have dried up. He said the situation was so bad that factories like his were having to buy cattle from places like Palapye and Serowe over 130 kilometres and 300 kilometres away respectively, compelling them to raise prices to make up for the round trips of nearly 600 kilometres.

While Sandy's Butchery sold beef for P26 per kilogram before, it is currently selling the same amount of beef for P31.But for Queen Mabengano, who runs Daily Needs Supermarket, the culprit is the abattoir of Selebi-Phikwe Town Council and its incompetence. Instead of 60 beasts a day, the abattoir was instead slaughtering 40, which fell far below demand in Selebi-Phikwe and her two butcheries that need more than two beasts a day.