The chairman of the association, Keitseng Morake says that the syndicates are meant to act as a neighbourhood watch to prevent stock-theft and to control spread of diseases. "For instance, we do not expect to see cattle from Serule in the Tuli Block area without any justified explanation or without undergoing veterinary procedure. Cattle usually move around Zone Seven in incidents of stock theft. So it will be in the form of a neighbourhood watch," he explained. He said they will patrol the border along Shashe together with officials of the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) to ensure that cattle do not mix up with those in Zone Six.
"Zone Seven is currently free from Foot and Mouth Diseases (FMD) and it was supposed to have been declared a green zone by now but then traces of the disease were detected in Zone Six. Since vaccination was carried out, we never experienced recurrence of the disease," he said. The association's executive committee is touring the zone to recruit more members. Morake said anybody who has cattle is eligible to join after paying P250 and the annual subscription fee of P50. "Now that we are legally and officially registered, we intend to comply with all requirements and ensure that the financial books and records are up to date," he promised. He appealed to farmers to join so that the association can have strength in bargaining for better prices. He regretted that many farmer associations in the country have collapsed because some join them for personal enrichment. He said that his association will strictly guard against this. He said they realised that cattle traders are taking advantage of them by buying their animals at a much lower price than Botswana Meat Commission (BMC). He stated that the P5 per kg price is measly compared to BMC's P23. The cattle traders price has been hiked to P8 per kg but Morake says that this is still too little compared with what the BMC is paying. He said they want to fight for better prices as part of efforts to eradicate poverty.
