Pigs seized, Kwa farmers request meeting

Update

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - “They always say they are protecting our animals, and that is what we also want; to protect our animals.”

So said Siphamandla Duma, a KwaNonqaba pig farmer, following the Garden Route SPCA Mossel Bay branch’s seizure of nine pigs from the piggery on Wednesday 9 September.

According to the SPCA, it had been granted a warrant to remove the pigs from owners who failed to comply with welfare standards. The association said the seizure follows three years of it handing out warnings, notices, and more recently, a memorandum outlining what was required from an animal welfare perspective.

SPCA inspector Themba Malinga said the complaints in the notices and warnings to the farmers over the years, the most recent warning being on 30 July and memorandum on 8 August, include dirty living conditions, lack of shelter, bedding and water, or dirty water if there is any, no medical or health treatment for ilnesses and injuries, poor drainage and poorly constructed pens with obstructions that can injure the pigs.

The farms are situated on a hill in KwaNonqaba off Mayixhale Street, and according to previous interviews with Mossel Bay Advertiser, house about 200 pigs belonging to 20 to 30 farmers.

Issues relating to the land being used include it being on an incline, the soil being mostly clay and there being no drainage when it rains, as has extensively been reported on in previous Advertiser articles.

The farmers were moved onto this current piece of land by a court order the Cape Town High Court had issued on 17 June 2020, which ordered the municipality to comply with the relevant by-laws, including the Nuisance By-law, and to remove the pig farms within a period of two years.

After the pigs’ removal, several farmers spoke with the Advertiser, relaying their concerns about the entire process and saying they felt there was a lack of transparency.

“They said the pigs [they took] were sick,” said a KwaNonaba pig farmer, Lungiswa Sesani.
“But they came without a vet, and they didn’t even check the pigs ... so how do they know if the pigs are sick or not?” questioned another farmer Siphamandla Duma.

The farmers said one of the most glaring problems they had with Wednesday’s proceedings was that the SPCA came without informing any of them. Duma said although the KwaNonqaba pig farmers have a WhatsApp group with members of the SPCA Mossel Bay branch, nothing was said on this group before the pigs were seized.

“I did ask what the purpose of the group was if they were just going to come in and do as they please. We are not asking them to beg us. Can they at least notify us that they are coming?” asked Sesani.

When asked if they were aware the pigs had been seized because the SPCA had a warrant, many of the farmers said they had not seen one.

“There was a piece of paper on hand, and I asked them why they didn’t share it on the group,” said Duma.
Sesani added that the farmers would have liked to have been shown the warrant when the SPCA arrived on Wednesday.

“We had to run after them to ask them why they were here, and then it was explained. They said we don’t listen, that they had told us many times to fix things,” said Duma.

“They just do whatever they want to do, any time. Last time they came here, they broke the walls, and now pigs are not secured anymore ... They came back to fix the holes with pallets, but there are dogs that push through and kill our pigs.”

The farmers said one was killed as recently as Tuesday evening, 8 September, and that they had lost more than 10 as a result of dog attacks in the last two weeks, because of the holes in the property’s walls.

Malinga said a person does not need to be notified before a seizure if a warrant has been obtained. The Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962, Section 8, does not mention any need to notify a person before a seizure warrant is executed.

Malinga emphasised that the farmers had been told many times, through notices, warnings and educational visits, what was needed to be done at the piggeries to meet animal welfare standards. He said the holes in the walls were made to enable the pigs to roam on the dry land so they did not sit in the mud and cold.

He said pigs cannot regulate their body temperatures, so it was important to give them a dry space.
Malinga added that the municipality had given the SPCA permission to make these holes, but closed them up when the farmers made reports of dogs getting into the piggeries and attacking and killing the pigs.

“We have communicated every time, in writing, what needs to be done. We have been doing this for three years now,” said Malinga. “Last week when we went to close up the holes, we left some equipment for the farmers. We said that we would come back within the next week or so, and if there were no changes, we would take action. This action has been taken for the welfare of the animals.”

The farmers said they had received notices about these issues, but the notices and warnings they received this year only mentioned mud as being a problem. “That is all they always complain about, and they know the soil here is clay,” said Sesani.

“And they will come only after it rains, so obviously they will find mud,” added Duma.

Another farmer, Matthews Ngcana, said as for the pens having obstructions, the SPCA told them to use pallets for the pigs to lie on in the pens.

“Now, obviously, when the pigs walk on them, they break,” added Sesani.

Another farmer, Magda Taylor, said when the SPCA does come when it is dry, they tell the farmers everything is fine.

“And if you walk around here, each pen has a shelter for the pigs to sleep. What more do they want?” questioned Duma.

“Every day we are here to manage our pigs and care for them, but the place we are farming - the ground is clay,” said pig farmer Themba Mtshayisa.

“We are trying; they forget we are trying. If they can meet us halfway, then I am sure, as a team, we can do better,” said Sesani.

She added that the farmers want a meeting with the municipality and the SPCA so that all parties can sit together and voice their concerns. Sesani said the farmers did not want the SPCA to be the middleman between them and the municipality.

“We are not asking them to babysit us or spoonfeed us. We are just asking for assistance and transparency,” she said.

However, the SPCA has said that is always tries to educate and assist people where it can however, there comes a point where people have to take responsibility for the welfare of their animals. It added that it is when there continues to be a lack of accountability and no action taken, that the SPCA then has to enforce the law.

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