Anger over dumped animal remains

The carcasses were dumped last Thursday and Friday morning, an outraged Mlungisi Farmers’ Association chair Zola Magoqoza said.

The farmers and residents have raised their dissatisfaction with Chris Hani municipality.

Magoqoza said they woke up on Friday and witnessed a KDC Trading vehicle dumping the chicken and piglet carcasses at an open space near Newvale in Mlungisi township.

Chris Hani District Municipality spokesperson Thobeka Mqamelo said at present there was no bylaw that governed the issue as the bylaws were at the stage of being gazetted.

“We have not yet taken steps and we are still digging for information,” Mqamelo said.

She said the local municipality provided designated sites for the disposal of carcasses.

In some cases, the department of rural development and agrarian reform also offered the use of its incinerators.

Coetzer blamed a manager, who he said had since left the company.

“We had a piggery manager who hid the piglets once they died and we noticed them when he left.

“I think there was a disease outbreak. Those were last ones; we don’t have any left.”

Coetzer said they had since cleaned up the area where the pigs were dumped.

He said the driver had not been sent by the company and they had given him a written warning for his actions.

“We apologise to the people affected. As soon as we heard about the dumped carcasses on Friday night, we woke up and removed them before 8am the next day,” he said.

Coetzer said the animals had not all died at once.

Magoqoza wanted to know what caused the death of the animals and why the company had dumped the carcasses, which were a health hazard and could be carrying diseases.

“We are afraid because there was also animal feed [dumped] and our animals graze where they dumped those carcasses.”