I will lose my house - FMD-hit abattoir worker

Francois Roux fears he could lose his family home if the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak keeps the abattoir where he works closed long enough for his employer to stop paying salaries.

The 36-year-old abattoir manager, who is married and has three children, is among 18 workers sent on paid leave after the facility closed a day after the FMD outbreak in the //Kharas Region was announced on 23 September.

Although he is still receiving his salary, Roux said he does not know how long his employer can continue paying workers while the abattoir remains idle.

“I have to feed my family, and my biggest concern is how long my employer will be able to pay me a salary without me working and with no end in sight for the FMD outbreak.

"Once my salary stops coming, I will not be able to pay the rent and will lose the house,” he said.

Two of Roux’s three children are at school, and the family has already started cutting household expenses as the uncertainty continues.

“My wife was initially calm about it, but the seriousness of the situation is now sinking in. We have started cutting down on expenses at home.

"Fifteen affected farms and 126 infected animals are not a joke. The disease is coming closer and closer, and we do not know where we stand.”

Official figures subsequently released by President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah on 5 October put the number of confirmed FMD cases at 127 across 15 farms. Surveillance teams had inspected 29 313 animals across 68 farms.

Roux said having few financial commitments apart from rent has helped him cope so far, but he remains uncertain about how long the shutdown will last.

“I am one of 18 people who have been sent on paid leave for now. For how long, none of us knows. I think every time animals test positive, the three-month quarantine period is also pushed back. If we open again, when will we be allowed to slaughter animals?” he said.

No other survival means

The situation is particularly unsettling for Roux because he has experienced sudden unemployment before.

He previously worked for Coleman Transport at Skorpion Zinc Mine and was retrenched after the mine closed.

“I worked for Coleman Transport at the mine, and when it was shut down suddenly, I was left without a job,” he said.

The FMD shutdown has now brought activity at his current workplace to a halt.

Roux said the abattoir normally slaughtered about 100 sheep and 20 cattle a week, with volumes increasing substantially towards the end of the month.

About 30 farmers supplied animals to the facility every week.

“They have no other means to survive and completely depend on the abattoir to buy their animals so that they can cover their running costs. I cannot even offer them any advice.”

The silence at the abattoir has added to his anxiety.

He said the facility had become “as quiet as a graveyard”.

“It's depressing to be here. The meat supply still available in our butchery is running out fast. I have noticed that meat prices have risen sharply at other outlets. All we can do for now is wait and see. Once the answers come, we will know what route to take.”

Customers are also contacting him for information he cannot provide.

“One of our customers in Lüderitz and many others are facing an uncertain future. We have no meat available. We used to slaughter an average of 100 sheep and 20 cattle a week, and these numbers increased substantially at the end of the month. Customers are calling me non-stop, looking for answers, and I have none to give. We are all in the dark,” he said.

Government has meanwhile intensified efforts to contain the outbreak. As at 5 October, 20 surveillance teams had been constituted and 10 roadblocks established across the //Kharas Region. Cabinet has also approved a containment buffer zone in the Karasburg Veterinary District.

Roux believes testing should be expanded around Keetmanshoop so that areas where no infections are detected can resume activity.

“It's clear that the contaminated animals are in the Ariamsvlei border area, and the FMD outbreak is spreading like a bushfire. Tests should be done in and around Keetmanshoop and the area should be opened up if no animals test positive. They must think about the rest of Namibia,” he said.

The uncertainty has also affected Roux’s small pig farming operation a few kilometres outside Keetmanshoop, where he has started reducing what he spends on feed.

“I know, for example, that lucerne is a big FMD carrier, but we are completely in the dark about how the disease is spreading in the Land of the Brave. I always fed the pigs extra feed, but I cannot do this anymore. I am also feeding the pigs out of my own pocket. They are not animals you can simply let loose to feed in the bush,” he said.

He added: “We are all in the dark.”