30 Mar 2017

There are no plans currently to construct council abattoir in Mahalapye Sub-district, local government and rural development assistant minister, Mr Frans Van Der Westhuizen has said. Mr Van Der Westhuizen has explained to Parliament on Wednesday that the project was included among those in the District Development Plan 8/NDP 11 proposals, but was not approved due to budgetary constraints and other competing national priority projects. However, the assistant minister said there were nine licensed operational slaughter houses in Mahalapye, adding that weekly quota for each slaughter house was 25 cattle, translating to five cattle daily per slaughter. “The killing of animals at slaughter houses is controlled and monitored for compliance by the ministry of agriculture, through veterinary department meat inspectors,” he said. Further, Mr Van Der Westhuizen noted that ‘the killing of the same was monitored by issuing daily permits at a central loading facility by the veterinary services’. Parliament was informed that Central District Council through the Department of Environmental Health conducts weekly routine inspections of slaughter houses to ascertain compliance with requirements of the Public Health Act. MP Joseph Molefe of Mahalapye West had asked the minister if he was aware that there was no council abattoir in Mahalapye and that such contributed to illegal cattle slaughtering. He enquired when a purpose designed council abattoir would be constructed in Mahalapye, how many licensed private owned slaughter houses were operational in Mahalapye, the weekly quota for each slaughter house and how the killing of animals at the slaughter houses was monitored and controlled. ENDS