Spoiled veggies cause a stir as vendors lose thousands of pulas
The owner of Silver Horizon farm in Gantsi has put the blame squarely on farmers who have lost thousands of pulas from a rotten potato deal.
The farmer at the centre of the controversy, Petrus Michau has absolved himself from any wrong doing and instead criticised his customers for disregarding important potato handling techniques.
On Monday social media was abuzz with sorrowful videos of small potato vendors lamenting monumental loss after spending thousands of pula on both the in demand vegetable and fuel.
In an interview with The Voice on Wednesday a fuming Rose Bofefo who paid P40 000 for her stock on 30th January demanded a refund from the embattled farmer.
Bofefo said her truck arrived in Gantsi on January 10th, but due to long queues, they were only able to load on the 30th.
“I paid around noon the same day, and the truck arrived in Francistown the next day,” she said.
Bofefo who was trying her luck on the potato business for the first time told The Voice that even when they noticed a few stains on some bags, they weren’t too concerned as that is normal with potatoes.
“We didn’t sell many bags in the first day, but we were taken aback by the feedback we received from the few customers who bought from us. They wanted their monies back because we sold them rotten potatoes,” recalled Bofefo.
She said they received similar feedback on day two, and that’s when they decided to go through their bags.
“I was mortified. Most of the potatoes were bad. It was just stinking pulp oozing through the 10kg paper bags,” Bofefo told The Voice.
She said repeated efforts to contact Michau hit a snag, and hoping to salvage something from the rot and with the help of family members and well wishers, they went through the bags to re-sort the potatoes.
“Most of the potatoes were taken to the dumping site. I was now paying people and using more fuel to go dump my stock,” she said.
“More money down the drain,” added Bofefo with a shake of the head.
With the original packaging ruined, Bofefo had to purchase 500 new potato bags for repackaging.
“Even that didn’t help because the repackaged potatoes went bad the next day,” she said gesturing at hundreds of ruined potatoes on the lawn.
The disappointed trader said when she finally got through to Michau she was flatly told that she would not get any refund.
“He told me I should’ve sold my potatoes within three days, and that they should be consumed within five days. That’s ludicrous. Who consumes a 10 kg bag of potatoes in five days?” she exclaimed.
“What I’ve picked is that this has been going on for a while. Local vendors are being ripped off, and threatened with a blacklist if they complain. He made it clear that should I continue asking for a refund, he’ll never supply me,” Bofefo said.
Bofefo said so far she has only recouped P16000 which only covered part of the expenses.
Goitsemang Ntheetsang has been a client at Silver Horizon since 2019.
“I’ve always received the best potatoes from Michau, even in December I received quality stock,” she said.
She however added that something was terribly wrong with the stock she purchased on the 30th of January.
“I paid P63 850, and my truck so far had made a couple of trips to the dumping site,” she said.
“There’s something terribly wrong with this potato. I don’t even think its healthy for consumption, it needs to be tested. We’re not fighting Michau, we are only looking to an amicable solution to this problem,” she said.
Ntheetsang was also not impressed with Michau’s threat to cut his supply should they continue to complain.
“We’ve every right to complain. This matter has already reached the Office of the President (OP) and Francistown West Member of Parliament Ignatius Moswaane has also written to the supplier.”
However in his defence, Michau said the months of January, February and March are the worst for potato harvest because its too hot.
He said his family has been farming potatoes for more than 40 years, and have been in Botswana for nine years.
He said most farmers avoid these months, that’s why there’s always shortage.
Michau however said most clients do not take seriously the advice farmers give them on how to handle potatoes.
“We advise that they shouldn’t stack more than 11 bags, but still have some stacking up to 22 bags,” he said.
“That’s too much. The weight on the bottom bags and the heat from the car means the potatoes will arrive almost pre-cooked.”
“That’s it. The biggest challenge is transportation, heat and failure to load on pallets as per our terms and conditions,” Michau said.
“Why would we risk with our reputable name,” he asked rhetorically.
MP Moswaane however dismissed this claim.
“That’s a lie. These vendors buy potatoes from him every month all year round, and this has never happened. This was stock clearing, he dumped the filthiest produce on unsuspecting vendors and he has to do the right thing. We’ll make sure he does,” fired Moswaane.
