State-owned Daybreak mulls business rescue after horrified SPCA culls 350 000 starving chicks
State-owned chicken producer Daybreak Foods, which employs over 3 000 people, says it is considering applying for business rescue.
The NSPCA says it was forced to cull 350 000 starving chicks at contract farms supplying the company.
The animal welfare group said some birds had been without food and water for a week and had begun cannibalising each other.
For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
State-owned chicken producer Daybreak Foods says it is considering business rescue, a day after officials from the National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) said it had been forced to cull 350 000 starving chicks.
Daybreak said that significant financial constraints were affecting its operations, meaning it could not afford feed and was struggling to pay suppliers and staff salaries.
It has requested funding from the state-run asset manager, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
Workers at Daybreak's facilities in Limpopo told News24 they were on strike due to the non-payment of salaries, meaning they could not make rental payments, cover debit orders, or pay school fees.
Daybreak said it could not commit to a 'specific date for employee salary payments' as it was awaiting a response from the PIC regarding the funding request.
Earlier this week, the NSPCA said it had been forced to cull 350 000 starving chicks at contract farms that raise them for Daybreak. Many had resorted to cannibalism in a desperate bid to survive.
'This was one of the most emotionally and physically taxing operations our team has ever faced,' said senior inspector Nazareth Appalsamy of the nonprofit's Farm Animal Protection Unit.
'We were not there to save lives; we were there to end suffering. And that breaks every one of us.'
The NSPCA said the deaths and injuries they found at the contract farms were 'a shocking indication of how long these birds were denied feed'.
'At various sites, staff had not been paid, and the stench was unbearable, with thousands of mortalities unremoved from houses.'
Officials from the nonprofit said it appeared some chicks had been without food and water for a week.
'It was a harrowing scene: skeletal chickens huddled together, feeding lines stripped bare […] House by house, teams moved through the sheds, ending lives that had been reduced to silent suffering.'
The NSPCA said that, since 1 May, it has also rescued half a million birds from Daybreak contract growers and placed them on rearing farms. With the help of a producer, these birds were now receiving food and water.
No offers of support
Daybreak Foods, previously known as Daybreak Farms, is a major employer in Delmas, east of Johannesburg, with over 3 000 employees. It also has operations in other provinces.
It confirmed the NSPCA's reports about cannibalism and culling, blaming these on financial troubles.
'The company prioritises animal welfare, transparency, and accountability,' it said, adding it was working with the NSPCA to address these issues and ensure the 'highest standards of animal care'.
The NSPCA, meanwhile, said it had not received any offers of support from the company to help with the culling and rescue of chicks 'despite intense media attention and public outrage'.
'It was our men and women in blue and white who stood between these animals and unrelenting suffering,' it said. It said it would seek to have Daybreak prosecuted under anti-cruelty and animal abandonment laws.
Daybreak is one of the few active farming operations still wholly owned by the state. The PIC controls 100% of its shares on behalf of investments made by the Government Employees' Pension Fund, the Compensation Commission, and the Unemployment Insurance Fund.
The company has been beset by a series of scandals and governance crises since late 2020, and it has cycled through four permanent or acting CEOs in the past four years.
Its last permanent CEO, Richard Manzini, resigned in February to pursue 'an opportunity that aligns with his personal and professional goals'.
The PIC said this week it was 'deeply disturbed' by reports of culling and cannibalism. The asset manager said it was continuing to support Daybreak and had provided 'capital allocations to provide liquidity to the company', without providing details.
'The PIC is engaging its clients, the board of Daybreak and other stakeholders on an urgent basis to find a solution aimed at preserving the value of assets and, importantly, jobs in the company.'
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