The Bhambanana Red Meat Abattoir in northern Zululand has stood largely unused and deteriorating for close to 14 years, despite many livestock owners in KwaZulu-Natal’s foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) management area having little to no legal means of earning an income from their animals.
By Lloyd Phillips, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
Construction of the Bhambanana Abattoir in Jozini, in the rural uMkhanyakude District Municipality, began in 2012, reportedly at an initial taxpayer-funded cost of R83 million. The sod-turning event for the facility – designed to slaughter and process up to 60 cattle per day – was, according to one attendee, a high-profile affair presided over by then-president Jacob Zuma.
The abattoir was intended “to stimulate regional economic development and job creation, and to mitigate the devastating impact of the 2011 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak” in the area at the time, according to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (KZN DARD).
Since then, the KZN DARD, the Democratic Alliance (DA), the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union (Kwanalu) and the KwaZulu-Natal chapter of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (KZN AFASA) have identified numerous critical flaws in the abattoir’s final construction, preventing it from operating effectively or safely.
The flaws include an incorrectly positioned slaughter line, an incorrectly sized port at the start of the processing line, the absence of dedicated stations for handling heads and hooves, and a car park located between the abattoir and the incinerator for abattoir waste and condemned carcasses.
Also read: Feedlots, abattoirs may now vaccinate against FMD
More Public Money, Little Progress
Tim Brauteseth, the DA’s KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson on finance, said in a statement dated 15 June 2025 that the Bhambanana Abattoir had stood idle and deteriorating since its construction. In the same statement, however, he expressed optimism that a R6,1 million “cash injection” from the KwaZulu-Natal government’s Agribusiness Development Agency would turn the situation around.
What became of the R6,1 million remains unclear. On 27 January 2026, KZN DARD announced that it had allocated R16,45 million to ECA Consulting (ECA), described as a “new service provider”, to reconfigure and rehabilitate the abattoir to full operational status and health and safety compliance.
“The scope of work for [ECA] includes necessary modifications to the overnight cold rooms, chillers, offal rooms, carcass dispatch areas, lairages for cattle and sheep, and livestock offloading facilities. Renovations are expected to be completed by July 2027.”
Thembeni kaMadlopha-Mthethwa, MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development in KwaZulu-Natal, said in the announcement, “We want this project to be up and running and used optimally. I am also cautioning against corruption by unscrupulous government officials or traditional leaders who demand kickbacks from service providers. This project is the first step in addressing foot-and-mouth disease in the region.”
Livestock Owners Cut Off From Legal Markets
Since 2021, approximately 4 million hectares in KwaZulu-Natal – eventually including the Jozini district – have been declared a state-implemented foot-and-mouth disease management area. This designation has imposed strict prohibitions and controls on the movement of livestock within and out of the area, leaving many livestock owners unable to earn a legal income from their animals.
Also read: Abattoirs: Practical starting point for traceability
Doubts About the Abattoir’s Viability
Peter-John Hassard, a long-time beef and game farmer in the uMkhanyakude District Municipality and president of Kwanalu, was present at the 2012 sod-turning ceremony. He has visited the site three times since and says he has never seen any meaningful progress.
“It’s potentially a really good facility if it were rehabilitated and managed properly. It could add value to the area. I want it to work, but I have a lot of questions.”
Hassard believes the Bhambanana Abattoir has been sited in an area with insufficient local livestock populations to sustain financially viable throughput. Although the abattoir is designed to process up to 60 cattle per day, even operating at 40 animals per day over an average of 252 working days would require 10 080 head annually.
Poor road conditions, long travel distances and the associated transport costs stand between the abattoir and livestock owners west and south of the Lebombo Mountains who might otherwise consider supplying animals.
Hassard also questions the intended markets for the abattoir’s products.
“There are already private abattoirs operating and competing in Zululand. It will be difficult and expensive to transport Bhambanana’s products to highly competitive markets such as Empangeni (about 200km away), Vryheid (about 220km) and Durban (about 340km).
“I personally think Maputo in Mozambique [about 220km away] is a good potential market opportunity. But authorities first need to facilitate exports through the Kosi Bay Border Post.”
‘Friends of Government’ Versus Producers
Nkanyiso Hadebe, spokesperson for KZN AFASA, which represents the interests of the province’s many black livestock owners, said that given the project’s long history of failure and the lack of engagement with KZN AFASA, “we are not confident” the abattoir will be successful in the long term.
“If KZN DARD engaged with us, we would tell them that many black livestock owners, especially in traditional authority areas, are being discouraged from continuing livestock production because of stock theft, disease, lack of markets, insufficient training, inadequate grazing and feed, and high transport costs. Government needs to fix these issues first.
“Secondly, there is too much political interference and too much enrichment of private service providers and other ‘friends of government’ in projects like the Bhambanana Abattoir. Livestock owners must be given a share of ownership so that they feel motivated to use and protect the facility. KZN AFASA is non-political. We understand grassroots realities and want to play a meaningful role in ensuring the abattoir operates correctly and benefits black livestock owners in the province.”
Also read: FMD | Calls mount to scrap KZN disease management area
