WINDHOEK - After a year absence, Namboer Auctioneers with the assistance of various livestock organisations, last week Wednesday hosted the comeback of the hugely popular livestock auctions in the evenings with a loud bang. 

Buyers and stud breeders of livestock had been complaining for the entire 2018 after a circular from the Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS) did away with auctions at 18h00, informing auctioneers that government can no longer pay veterinarians the overtime for work done after 17h00, as required by law.

After various successful meetings with the relevant authorities, Namboer Auctioneers convinced the authorities of the importance of these auctions in a year of another terrible drought, and permission was granted to stage such auctions for the remainder of 2019.

This resulted in the first evening auction of 2019, which attracted scores of attendants and saw the immaculate Boer Goat ram of Slava Motinga fetching the highest price of the evening at N$33 000 with Nadia Kubas the proud new owner. The combined production auction of the Motinga brothers, Charles Urib and Nadia and Ronald Kubas hosted 20 Boer Goat rams, 30 Boer Goat ewes, three Meatmaster rams, five Meatmaster ewes, and five White Dorper rams. 

Owner of Namboer Auctioneers, Piet Coetzee, was delighted with the outcome and told Farmers Forum that Namboer was involved in a long and sometimes frustrating battle in the quest to bring back the after-hours auctions. 

“The entire industry has suffered due to the auctions taking place at 12:00 at our pens and the pens of other auctioneers. It has been catastrophic because hardly any buyers or sellers can avail themselves and their animals at that time of the day during the week. The result was that fewer and fewer people have been attending these midday auctions to the detriment of all involved.  We have established a social media chat group to address the issue and have been inundated by angry producers and potential buyers who wanted the auctions to be shifted to 18:00 so that they can prepare better and have ample time to bring their animals to town. And now we are back with a bang,” he explained.

Prominent producers have expressed great satisfaction with the return to evening auctions, saying it has been proved over decades that after-hour auctions are the most convenient and successful. They pointed out that stands are always packed during after-hour auctions and that auctioneers went out of their way to make these events special by offering a barbeque and a coffee shop, which contributed to a festive and enjoyable atmosphere.

Coetzee says the situation last year impacted on attendance numbers as well as prices of animals. He says the past year has shown how, especially the average prices of Boer Goats, Kalahari Reds and Savannas have dropped and he blames this squarely on the weak attendance during mid-day auctions.

Thanks to Namboer’s relentless fight to bring back evening auctions, the annual Western Bonsmara Winter Auction will now take place at 18h00 on June 21 in the Agra Ring in Windhoek.