Illegal goat sellers refuse to be moved

Illegal goat sellers refuse to be moved Tunohole Mungoba



Oshakati

Johannes Tutaleni, who has been selling goats along the Okaku-Oshikuku road for years, says his trade has been declared illegal. The Oshakati town council have instructed him and other goat sellers to move to a designated animal shed in Omumbu, a few kilometres from their current spot.

Tutaleni, who is from Bairro Oupale in Angola, said the designated shed is too far from the road, and lamented the fact that there are no clear road markings to serve as directions to customers.

During the rainy season, the gravel road is flooded with water and is unsafe for sedan drivers, he added.

“If the town council can at least provide a proper road with road markings, we will gladly move here. We know are illegal goat sellers and we are not allowed to sell there, but we have no choice as we want to meet the customers with no struggles. Our goats have gotten bumped from that road and here they are a lot safer, but it is way too far from our customers,” he said.

The goats, which the sellers buy from Opuwo, were first moved to the designated shed in 2019 due to the outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth disease (FMD).

Health and safety regulations

Tutaleni said while customers sometimes ask them to slaughter the animals, the shed does not have a slaughterhouse.

At the Okaku road, the goat sellers have a makeshift slaughterhouse that seems to be working for them.

Oshakati mayor Leonard Hango said it is unfortunate, but the goat sellers will have to be moved as they are not adhering to health and safety regulations.

“Customers are not supposed to request for goats to be slaughtered as there is no proper drainage system for the blood and animal waste. We have a newly renovated abattoir in Okatana close to Namib Breweries. Suitable for not only goats, but cows and pigs too and these facilities are for public use,” Hango said.

“We have really been struggling with these goat sellers. It is just because we do not have City Police or else we would have them on site to remove them,” he said.

He added that the council will take the goat sellers’ complaints regarding the road markings into consideration.