Windhoek
Agribank, as legitimate owner of the Witvlei abattoir, is currently consulting its stakeholders on the future of the operations at the facility which closed down overnight in December 2014 and left some 200 workers unemployed.
“Due to the sensitive nature and the fact that this issue has become a matter of national interest, Agribank is not at liberty to disclose the nature, context an content to all of its consultations with the various stakeholders,” CEO of Agribank Ambassador Leonard Iipumbu,” said yesterday in response to questions from New Era about the future of the closed plant, which was the livelihood of some 800 residents of the sleepy town of Witvlei.
Iipumbu says Agribank is appealing to all parties to allow it to conduct and finalise the consultations, following which an official announcement will be made on the road ahead with regards to the abattoir.
Iipumbu did not put a timeframe to these deliberations, but confirmed there are various interested parties involved in the discussions.
“These parties must not panic and issue sensational and misleading statements aimed at fueling the already tense matter, as Agribank is mindful of the impact of the current status quo of the abattoir on the community of Witvlei,” he observed.
Iipumbu also said it is regrettable that some members of society, particular from Witvlei are claiming the abattoir was established by youth leaders from the Omaheke Region.
“Contrary to such claims the Witvlei abattoir was constructed with funding from Agribank,” he explained with regard to the background on the ownership of the abattoir.
Agribank financed the construction of the Witvlei abattoir by a company called !Uri Khubis (Pty Ldt) to the tune of N$60 million in 2003.
The company failed to acquire the European Union standards to enable it to export beef to European Union and in 2004 “Uri Khubis was placed under liquidation and Agribank bought the abattoir for N$11 million.
In August 2006, Agribank entered into a lease agreement with Witvlei Meat (Pty Ltd) for the latter to lease the abattoir for two years.
In 2010, following two renewals of the lease agreement between the two parties up to July 2010, Agibank sought the permission of government to sell the abattoir to Witvlei Meat, who had been leasing it since 2006, as noted.
In May 2011, Cabinet directed that the bank offer the abattoir at market price and not the N$15 million that was in the two-year (2006-2008) lease agreement between Agribank and Witvlei Meat.
In July that year, Witvlei Meat refused to buy the abattoir at market price and insisted on buying it for N$15 million. The standoff between Agribank and Witvlei Meat on the purchase price led to a court application by Agribank to evict Witvlei Meat from the premises due to illegal occupation thereof.
The court ruled in favour of Agribank and granted the eviction order. Witvlei Meat appealed the order in the Supreme Court, which in essence directed that Witvlei Meat be granted the option to exercise the option to buy the abattoir from Agribank.
Agribank and Witvlei Meat then entered into a purchase agreement with specific terms and conditions to transfer the ownership of the abattoir to Witvlei Meat.
However, Witvlei Meat apparently breached these terms and the agreement lapsed on June 26 2015. Iipumbu stressed that the history clearly shows that there can only be one legitimate owner of Witvlei abattoir and that is Agribank.
“I, therefore, appeal to all interested parties to exercise patience while we decide the future of the plant with or various stakeholders,” he concluded.