Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Retief Odendaal, MPL
Shocking revelations of how hundreds of dairy cows from the Mantusini Dairy project were left to starve to death and their rotting carcasses left lying in open fields to feed the vultures, have come to light after a recent oversight visit to the facility.
The Democratic Alliance will demand that the Provincial Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform intervene, and a full audit be done to account for the millions in funding received.
Representatives from the Mantusini Dairy Trust, as well as Local Chief Inkosi Mthetheleli “Mhlanbuhlangene”Cameron Nomphandana attested to the fact that some 350 dairy cows of an original herd of 500 has already perished.
The DA last year exposed how R43 million has been invested into the failed dairy project by both the National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) as well as the Eastern Cape DRDAR in the Mantusini Village close to Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape.
Upon an oversight inspection conducted by the DA of the facility last week, it was found that operations at the dairy have now stopped altogether. Notwithstanding state-of-the-art equipment cows have to be milked by hand as Eskom has disconnected electricity to the farm due to non-payment. In addition, seven expensive pivots acquired to establish suitable pastures at the farm also can’t be operated, due to the lack of electricity. (See pictures here, here and here)
Representatives from the Mantusini Dairy Trust indicated that their cows perished on large scale during the winter, due to the unavailability of feed. Since the facility has never had a mower or a bailer, they could not stockpile feed for the dry winter months and the trust did not have the necessary funding to buy feed for its cattle. The result was large scale losses of dairy cows due to starvation.
The DA also found that the cattle had also not been treated for ticks or other parasites, due to the unavailability of dip.
Although there are facilities to spray dip that has been constructed, it has not been utilised for years. This also contributed to the large-scale losses of livestock over the last couple of months. The remaining cattle are now treated from time to time for parasites by local commercial farmers who are donating dip.
In September last year DRDAR has announced that the facility would be resuscitated after a new joint venture partner, Creamtop, was appointed to assist with the operations at Mantusini Dairy.
However, the Mantusini Dairy Trust indicated that Creamtop has done nothing to support operations at their facility, and they have not been at the facility once since the beginning of 2021.
Community members expressed concern that they had to make their land, previously utilised for subsistence farming, available for the dairy project. Since no profits have been forthcoming from the dairy project, they are now struggling to put food on the table.
Community members are also angry because they feel that there has been large scale looting at the facility by government officials.
Chief Nomphandana indicated that they desperately require government to intervene in the project but that they require expertise to get the project back on track.
The DA will now refer the matter to newly appointed DRDAR MEC, Nonkqubela Pieters, for her intervention. We will also demand an audit as to how the R43 million was spent and whether there has been any financial impropriety in the project.
Government has once again failed the people of Mantusini. The DA will fight for government to re-evaluate this project and provide a sustainable solution to the problems at Mantusini.