The usual litany of South African woes — load-shedding, water shortages and rickety municipal services — sounded the death knell this week for a major abattoir in the Free State with the loss of 79 jobs.
Blokhuis Abattoir, owned by Midlands Meat, shut its doors on Friday.
“The closure of the plant in Harrismith is due to economic reasons: market volatility, operational costs, load-shedding impact and local council infrastructure challenges,” its board said, declining to comment further.
Workers told the Sunday Times the company retrenched 14 employees last year, saying the costs of bringing water to the plant and running a generator during load-shedding were unsustainable.
“After those retrenchments we thought [the job losses] were over,” said one woman who has worked at the abattoir since 2013.
“They came back at the beginning of May to tell us that the failure of the municipality to provide reliable water and the cost of running generators were giving the company big problems.
“A week later, the same bosses came to inform us the company would close on June 23. We could not believe it,” the woman said.
She said every time there were municipal water problems, the company had to bring in a JoJo tank so the slaughter of livestock could continue. She added that load-shedding forced her employers to run generators for hours.
“Our bosses told us they have spent too much money on diesel because of load-shedding and that has negatively impacted the business.”
The woman, who did not want to be named, said she had been unable to “think straight” since hearing of the business’s closure.
“I am the only breadwinner at home. I take care of my mother and daughter. I have not told my daughter. She is writing exams. I don’t want anything to disrupt her focus.”
She said finding employment in a small town like Harrismith was “almost impossible”.
Harrismith lies in the dysfunctional, cash-strapped Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality, which owes Eskom billions.
The Sunday Times visited the abattoir last week. That day, 85 cattle and 100 sheep were slaughtered, according to staff.
Our bosses told us they have spent too much money on diesel because of load-shedding and that has negatively impacted the business
— Staff member
Midland Meat trucks and customers — businesses, households and informal traders — waited for meat at the gate as workers pushed to address demand.
Smangele Mhlongo, from Bergville, has been buying meat from the abattoir for the past three years and selling it in her hometown.
“If this business closes, I don’t know where I will go to get meat. With the meat I buy from here, I am able to provide for my three children. I will have to look for a new place.”
Sabata Lepele was buying meat to supply his indigenous food restaurant in QwaQwa.
“It is really sad news that this abattoir is closing. It means we will have to travel long distances to find meat. Here we buy meat at a very reasonable price because they slaughter. The meat is also fresh. I am also worried about the workers who have been serving us for years. What will happen to them?”
Willem König, chair of the Harrismith, Intabazwe & Tshiame Residents' Association, said the loss of the business was bad news for the community.
“It is a very sad day. There will be people who depend on those workers who will now have no food. In such tough economic conditions, you cannot let go of workers this way. We are a small town and we don’t have lots of employment opportunities.
“This is all coming from our municipality’s failures. The abattoir sits right next to a sewerage works, which is not functional and is becoming a health risk. How do you expect the abattoir to function properly when it doesn't get enough water for its operations? Water is a big problem here,” König said.
Maluti-a-Phofung municipal spokesperson Thabo Kessah said: “It is certainly bad news for the municipality as well, as it will badly affect our already ailing economic development.”
Load-shedding was a big challenge for the country and “unfortunately we are not spared the frustration as a municipality”, he said.
“We are hamstrung by very low revenue collection in the municipality in general, [so] we are unable to implement any alternative energy projects to try to mitigate losses caused by load-shedding.”
Kessah referred questions about water supply to the service provider Maluti-a-Phofung Water, which did not respond to questions.
However, acting water operations manager Tello Mphuthi, responding to community concerns about water quality, told the SABC last month: “For now, we’re confident our water quality is still within the [safe] limit”.
He said water from the treatment plant was tested on an hourly basis, every day.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.