Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
In any business, communicating in silos is the main cause of issues among managers. With only three of us managing things, myself on sheep, Gert on vehicles and Mbali on payments, breaking through our silos is easy. Twice a week we hold short morning meetings to report progress and problems towards our goal of turning grass into sheep for profit.
Yawn for friendlier meetings
Because these meetings are early, there is a lot of contagious yawning. Since having learned that all vertebrates yawn, I encourage this. A good yawn, it turns out, boosts oxygen and blood flow to cool the brain, release stress and send positive social signals to the rest of the group. The result is a group that is a little more alert, relaxed, and friendly.
Not that I experienced any of these traits when I proposed that we look at expanding to rear sheep for the Middle East market. I said with both New Zealand and the United Kingdom having banned livestock exports and Australia planning to stop live sheep exports by 2028, the demand is greater than the supply. And since we already rear animals for udhiyah, this would be a natural extension of our farm business.
On the ship or not?
Both managers said no to my idea, with Mbali explaining the overall aims of halal and kosher practices. She cited South Africa’s Muslim Judicial Council Halaal Trust (MJCHT): When the animals are transported in conditions that cause undue stress and suffering, they cannot be considered tayyib, and thus the halal status may be compromised.
Islamic law requires that animals for consumption be treated with care and respect without physical harm, which livestock ships do not necessarily do.
Gert pulled up an article from Humane World for Animals South Africa, whose executive director Tony Gerrans said animals on the infamous livestock ships have to endure weeks of heat stress and rough seas while confined to dirty pens.
Gert said besides, more sheep would require more security measures to prevent theft, which would devour most of the paper-thin profits I may get from exporting to the Middle East. A survey published by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) in August showed me Gert has a point.
According to Stats SA, over 27 000 sheep were reported stolen over 12 months from 2024 to 2025. We sheep farmers got off lightly compared to goat farmers. Over 61 000 goats were stolen in the same period, followed by close to 38 000 cattle.
The survey states that some 60% of the victims in this period did not report the theft to the police, which means South Africa’s livestock theft numbers are much higher. While about a quarter of the victims did report thefts to their local chiefs, 37,1% of the respondents said they did not bother going to the police because the officers couldn’t – or wouldn’t – help recover their animals.
Trust in Toyota
“Ja-nee, people can’t rely on the authorities anymore,” sighed Gert.
“Hhai,” said Mbali. “You can still rely on Toyota. Remember that notice we got to go and have the inflator of the Takata front airbag replaced?”
“Ja, you mos went the other day. Was it as they said – only two hours and at no cost to you?” asked Gert.
“Because mine was the first car in, I was out in just over an hour,” Mbali said. “I hardly had time to finish my emails before I was handed my keys again.”
“Huh,” said Gert. “I will never like airbags, but the short wait is good news. Do they still have those muffins in the waiting area?”
“They do,” said Mbali, “but just one muffin per client, nè?”
“Only for clients who don’t plan,” said Gert. “I plan to take all the affected models to town.”
I told Gert he better also plan to bring back muffins when he takes my farm Hilux and the wife’s Fortuner for their new airbag inflators.
