AFASA members donate beef cattle to feed the poor in KZN

Members of the KwaZuluNatal chapter of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA KZN) recently donated beef cattle to be slaughtered and used in feeding the growing numbers of poor and hungry people, due to the national lockdown to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a handover ceremony held in Cedara, AFASA KZN members and its Beef Study Group delivered about 25 animals to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for slaughtering and processing into 5kg bags of beef for distribution to hundreds of struggling households in local communities.

AFASA’s president, Dr Vuyo Mahlati, said that she was immensely proud of the AFASA KZN Beef Study Group’s selfless generosity towards their less fortunate fellow South Africans.

“I am emotional because not so long ago we witnessed a devastating drought with KZN beef farmers crying tears as they saw their cattle dying daily. Farmers and communal communities on the brink of famine never lost hope. While the struggle of black farmers remains tough, the spirit of ubuntu shines bright.”

AFASA KZN’s chairperson, AJ Mthembu, told Farmer’s Weekly earlier during the national lockdown that while many members continued to struggle with the economic after-effects of the drought and the footand-mouth disease outbreak, these farmers had come to realise that they were still better off than many other people in their local communities.

AFASA KZN’s Beef Study Group had already previously slaughtered some donated cattle to feed homeless people in Pietermaritzburg during the lockdown.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza also recently issued a statement to thank individual farmers, farmers’ organisations, agribusinesses, and other business enterprises for their widespread donations of food parcels, sanitisers and face masks, among other items, to feed and protect poor communities during the national lockdown.

“The interventions of government in partnership with other civil society organisations, community members and individuals in ensuring food security among our people remainsan important [focus] during this time of the pandemic. We must continue to support those who work in the fields and in agribusiness industries because they remain vulnerable in the face of the [coronavirus] disease,” Didiza said. – Lloyd Phillips