WINDHOEK – Meatco yesterday reacted strongly to statements made by the chairperson of Witlvei Meat, Sydney Martin, whose remarks he described as “baseless and harmful and directed towards Meatco.”
Martin was quoted saying “only white commercial farmers are benefitting from the Norway quota with Meatco, as the meat north of the veterinary cordon fence cannot be exported to Europe.” Martin made the statement in an interview with New Era in which he divulged that Witvlei Meat intends to approach the High Court to challenge the validity of the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s decision to slash Witvlei Meat’s 2014 beef export quota to Norway from 800 tonnes to 300 tonnes.
Meatco’s chief executive officer Adv Vekuii Rukoro took issue with the fact that Meatco was not provided an opportunity to respond to the statements in the interest of providing a balanced view to the public. “Unfortunately, Martin has opted to use the racial card in an effort to promote his cause and to tarnish the name of Meatco. It is also the same statement Martin used in his lobby to obtain the initial 50 percent of the Norwegian quota in 2010. It is as untrue now as it was then,” said Rukoro. According to Rukoro, Meatco is the only meat processor to operate in both the northern communal areas and south of the veterinary cordon fence. The organization pays the same prices to all producers, regardless of their location north or south of the veterinary cordon fence. While it is true that the meat from the northern communal areas cannot be exported to Europe or Norway, it is not reflected in the price paid to producers in the northern communal areas. “Producers in the northern communal areas receive the same prices as producers south of the veterinary cordon fence, as if we are able to sell their meat into international markets. This also means that any benefit derived from international markets are equally applicable and passed on to producers who deliver to Meatco north and south of the veterinary cordon fence. The superior returns we generate south of the veterinary cordon fence allow us to subsidize the price paid to producers in the NCA. Without markets like Europe and Norway, it would not be possible. Meatco’s business model is such that we do not pay out dividends to shareholders. Therefore, every extra dollar that we make goes back to producers in the form of producer prices. This results in improved prices for all producers delivering to Meatco, both communal and commercial,” says Rukoro.
He further said in the last financial year, over the Norwegian quota period, the majority of Meatco’s producers were black farmers from communal areas, amounting to 1 586 producers. “It is unfortunate that we need to crouch to the racial level in an independent Namibia, but the facts obviously negate the statement by Martin that Meatco is only there to benefit white commercial farmers. In contrast, the opposite is true of Witvlei, who because of their business structure serve only a handful of ‘commercial white producers’ as Mr. Martin puts it. We challenge him to take the Namibian public in his confidence by opening his books and share the details and status of his producers. We are willing to do so,” Meatco said.
By Deon Schlechter