More commercial farmers join red line case

Two well-known commercial farmers have joined a court case regarding the veterinary cordon fence (VCF), also known as the red line.In a case filed on 26 May 2021, Affirmative Repositioning activist Job Amupanda is seeking a court order to have the fence removed and declared illegal and unconstitutional.He listed agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein, the government, attorney-general Festus Mbandeka and an official in the directorate of veterinary services, Hango Nambinga, as defendants in the matter.The Meat Board of Namibia was added as a fifth defendant after it asked for leave to intervene.Now, commercial farmers Andre Xavier Compion and Diethelm Metzger have both given notice of intention to defend the action as third parties who have direct and substantial interest in the matter.The defendants previously asked the High Court for an order of a special plea of nonjoinder for several other interested parties.A special plea of nonjoinder may be raised where a party who should have been added to an action was not.They also asked that all commercial and communal farmers farming on land in Namibia south of the fence and the owners and/or occupiers of land in the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) surveillance zone between the game proof fence and the stockproof fence be joined to the case.&#039;Abusing the court&#039;According to the notice by Metzger, he is a commercial cattle farmer operating in a partnership as Kamab Simbra on the farm Neu-Otjisauona in the Windhoek district, which is south of the VCF.Compion said he is a commercial cattle farmer who operates as a sole proprietor on farm MareeWil in the Okahandja district, south of the VCF. He is also a managing partner farming with cattle under Hinterland Boerdery on farms Amalia and Koppiealleen, situated in the Okahandja district.In his amended particulars of claim, Amupanda said the policy and administrative action to erect and subsequently retain the red line are “flagrant, brazen, brutal, shameful and draconian”.However, in their plea, the defendants denied these allegations and said Amupanda - through these proceedings - is abusing the court for the ulterior purpose of scoring a political advantage.Amupanda said the VCF, as a “colonial structure”, is unconstitutional on the basis that it was erected to achieve colonial aims and objectives.Discriminatory“It is not sanctioned or made provision for by any law in Namibia; it is not rationally connected to any purposes; people who are from northern origins are not treated the same as those from southern origins.”It was erected to act as a shield and to insulate persons who reside south of the fence and their livestock from perceived or actual diseases which emanate from people who reside north of the red line and their livestock, he added.According to Amupanda, this protection and insulation are not accorded to people who reside north of the red line and their livestock. This is discriminatory, he argued.The defendants denied that the differentiation highlighted by Amupanda is discriminatory, irrational, unreasonable or unfair.

More commercial farmers join red line case

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-18

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More commercial farmers join red line case

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Namibian Sun 2025-03-18

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