Animals die on neglected metro municipality owned farm

The death of animals at a metro municipality owned farm has been kept under wraps by stakeholders until farm workers started exposing the reality.
Rumours of animals perishing from thirst and starvation on the Spaarwater Incubation Farm reached Ward 88 Councillor Wally Labuschagne and an immediate investigation was implemented.
The EMM’s original intention was to convert the farm into a centre of development and upliftment of communities and teach people scientific farming methods on how to cultivate various fruit and vegetables.
The rest of the sows and piglets were loaded and transported to safety. On their follow up visit on May 26, SPCA Nigel was asked by the farmers to remove Qata’s boar as it also fell sick and is about to die.
According to Agnes Banda, a farm worker and pig caretaker, the transformer failed more than five months ago and water could not be pumped from the boreholes.
Many attempts have been made by both SPCA Nigel and Labuschagne to have Qata meet them at the farm to discuss the best way forward in terms of the animals’ living conditions, but he never kept to his commitment to meet.
“It has been more than six months since Qata has been on the farm. He never comes here anymore and we don’t have money to buy food for the animals”, Banda confirmed.
On HERAUT’s visit to the farm on October 23, Banda indicated another four dead piglets that succumbed since Labuschagne’s visit on October 20.
Labuschagne has called for an investigation into how this could have been allowed to happen and why the EMM had not yet put proper management in place.
“When we arrived there in May, the conditions were horrific. It reached a point where we had to remove carcasses, put animals down and remove animals that were on the brink of death”, Lynette shared.
“The short history of the EMM’s management of this farm is appalling. Just two years after purchasing it, the farm has fallen to ruin. There is no qualified, knowledgeable farm manager in place leaving representatives of the community to their own devices”, Labuschagne said.
R10 million of public money was used to acquire the farm and a further R5 million per year to keep the farm operational.
According to Agnes and Nigel SPCA officials, shareholders of the farm demanded that the reality of what Spaarwater has been delivering, should be kept quiet.
“The benefits of spending public money on this farm are impossible to see”, Labuschagne concluded.