WINDHOEK – Witvlei Meat, one of the quota holders of the lucrative Norwegian beef quota is on tenter hooks awaiting the outcome of their urgent application in the Windhoek High Court.
The company lodged an urgent application on Friday in which they asked the court to set aside the decision of Cabinet on December 27 to allocate it 300 tonnes of the 1 500-tonne quota.
Initially Witvlei and Meatco as the only slaughterhouses qualified for export shared the 1 600 tonne quota on an equal basis.
Cabinet however in December decided to slash Witvlei’s share to 300 tonnes upon recommendation of the Meat Board of Namibia.
Brukkaros Meat Processors applied for a share of the quota and it was also allocated 100 tonnes on condition they meet export requirements.
During the court proceedings on Friday the courtroom was packed with Witvlei residents who came to show support for Witvlei Meat.
Advocate Reinhardt Tötemeyer who appeared on behalf of Witvlei Meat told Judge Dave Smuts that should the court not find in favour of his client, Witvlei Meat would be forced to close its doors leaving 165 workers and their dependants in Witvlei destitute.
According to Tötemeyer, Witvlei Meat has injected much needed development at Witvlei since it took over the defunct !Uri! Kubis abattoir in 2006. He also said after taking over the insolvent abattoir, Witvlei Meat turned it into a profit-making entity and created full-time employment for 165 previously unemployed Namibians with a monthly wage bill of around N$800 000.
According to Tötemeyer the new abattoir has brought “substantial benefits to the Omaheke Region, which is one of the least developed regions in the country and it has paid a premium totalling N$12 million per annum to cattle producers from the cattle-farming region.
Witvlei Meat is further active in the community of Witvlei and has built a library for the school that can be used by inhabitants as well, and it has provided books for the library, contributed towards the overheads of the library as well as provided computers to the school.
In addition the company provides bursaries to a number of disadvantaged scholars every year, which entails the payment of all school fees and books. Tötemeyer argued that the Cabinet decision of August 3 2010 gave Witvlei Meat a right, or, at the very least, a legitimate expectation to share equally with Meatco in the export quota pending compliant newcomers being entitled to a share in future.
From the onset Tötemeyer made it clear his client does not begrudge Brukkaros its share although the company was cited as the seventh respondent in the matter.
According to Tötemeyer, since Witvlei Meat’s business principles were essentially based on the export quota it was grossly unfair of government not to allow it ample time to seek alternative markets.
Sisa Namandje who appeared on behalf of Cabinet as the first respondent, Government as the second respondent, the Minister of Trade and Industry as the third respondent and the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry as the fifth respondent argued that the government did not bound itself to the a 50/50 share of the quota between Meatco and Witvlei Meat.
According to him there was no automatic guarantee for Witvlei Meat to get a quota every year and thus Witvlei Meat had no right or expectation to receive 50 percent of the quota available after newcomers were accommodated.
According to him government took a decision to benefit a larger part of the country as Meatco also deals beyond the so-called Red Line while Witvlei Meat mainly operates in the Omaheke Region.
Advocate Jean Marais who represented the Meat Board as fourth respondent said that in essence Witvlei Meat seeks a “court guaranteed” 50 percent quota allocation, which is in breach of the original agreement of December 2010.
He said that while the Meat Board only recommended the quota allocations to Cabinet it had no say in the final decision of Cabinet.
He however maintained that Witvlei Meat knew in October last year already that the quota may change and as such their claims that they needed more time “ring hollow”.
He said that the approach of the industry favours the northern communities where Meatco is established.
According to Marais, Meatco on average slaughters 90 percent of all cattle butchered in Namibia and exports about 93 percent of all the meat exported.
Advocate Raymond Heathcote represented Meatco in the proceedings and argued that the Cabinet decision of December 2013 was proper and legal. He said that Witvlei Meat did not make out a case and that the matter should be struck from the roll with costs.
Judge Smuts reserved judgment and indicated that he would endeavour to deliver his ruling before the end of March.
By Roland Routh