Times Of Swaziland: TENANTS CRY ‘FOWL’ OVER CHICKENS

TENANTS CRY ‘FOWL’ OVER CHICKENS
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 BY KWANELE SIBIYA I  on 12/07/2019 04:01:00


MANZINI- What a chicken mess! Liqhaga Flats tenants are up in arms over an Asian
businessman who is also a tenant who keeps indigenous chickens (tinkhukhu
tasemakhaya) within the premises.
The tenants decried that the chickens made a lot of noise, particularly at night
as they crow, making it difficult for them to sleep.
They also said the chickens scratched their cars and left droppings on their
door stoops.
According to one of the tenants, who expressed his grievance on condition of
anonymity, the chickens have made their lives a living hell.
This, he said, was because they (tenants) barely slept at night due to the
incessant clucks made by the chickens, even during the crack of dawn.
Tenant
The tenant said the chickens were a nusiance for them, as they roamed around the
compound causing havoc on their valuable items which include, among other
things, their clothes.
He said the chickens would toss and turn their clothes if they (tenants) had not
closed the doors to their flats.
He also highlighted that the chickens would from time to time make their place
of abode filthy as they spilled waste bins all over the compound when rummaging
for food.
The tenants have asserted that the chickens have been kept at the residential
zone for a period of two months now.
The owner of the chickens, Kweser Abu, when reached for comment, mentioned that
he brought the chickens from a certain man who sold them in bulk with an
intention to rear them.
“I have reared the chickens from the time they were chicks until now that they
are fully grown,” he said.
He said the reason he opted to keep the chickens at the residential zone was
basically because he ran a restaurant situated in the same compound. Abu claimed
that he decided to keep the chickens because he wanted them to eliminate
cockroaches within his restaurant. This, he claimed,  he achieved through
locking the chickens in his restaurant at night and in turn, the chickens would
then consume the cockroaches.
The soft spoken Asian businessman said he was reluctant to use insecticides
within his restaurant because he was dealing with food items which could be
contaminated by the insecticides. Abu claimed that ever since he ‘deployed’
the chickens in his restaurant, the rate of cockroaches had decreased
tremendously.
“My chickens have completely eliminated cockroaches in my restaurant,” he
said. When asked if he was aware that he might be in violation of a regulation
that prohibits one from keeping chickens, particularly in the CBD, he said he
was not privy to such and he promised that he would get rid of them within a
space of a week from now if it were so.
“I was not cognisant of any regulation prohibiting me from keeping chickens
within the city. However, I vow to get rid of the chickens in a space of a week
from now,” he said.
Public Relations Officer of the Municipality Council of Manzini, Mathokoza
Thwala said the keeping of chickens within the urban area was regulated by the
Urban Government Act of 1969 together with other relevant regulations.
Thwala said in a nutshell, no one was allowed to keep chickens in the city
without the council’s permission.