Mauritius-bound cattle raise a storm of controversy

Leonard Neill THE DEPARTURE of the Danish vessel Codan from East London recently, carrying 500 cattle bound for Mauritius, unleashed a storm of controversy which may affect the regular beef export trade with the island. A court interdict had earlier prohibited its departure, but a Grahamstown High Court judge ordered the release of the cattle. An earlier court order involved a debt dispute between Seychelles Shipping Lines and a Mauritian company, Taurus International, which had chartered the Codan to convey livestock on a regular basis from Durban, East London or Maputo to Port Louis. Papers before the court claimed that Taurus had failed to pay an agreed monthly fee for four months, as well as the deposit and freight charges to the Seychelles company. This together with damages amounted to R3.4million. Shortly after a high court sheriff served the attachment on the Coban’s captain, Erik Skov, SPCA inspectors boarded the vessel to investigate. They reported that conditions were satisfactory with sufficient food, water and ventilation. Regular inspections were held during the vessel’s two-day stay in port. In the papers before the court in which the release application was made, the cattle farm responsible for supplying the animals stated the animals did not belong to Taurus, but were consigned to another Mauritian company, Zebu, whose subsidiary company, Soccovia Bellevue had paid for them. But the Seychelles company attorney claimed to be in possession of documents that showed that payments had been made to the farmer. Now port authorities in East London are to monitor closely all arrangements concerning future loadings of cattle through the harbour, where up to 1 000 per month are being shipped to Mauritius.