The Plumtree Town Council in Matabeleland South has outlawed the selling of game meat in its jurisdiction, imposing fines or imprisonment for the offenders.
The ban is contained in Statutory Instrument (SI) 142 of 2025 [Chapter 29:15 under Plumtree Town (Game Meat By-laws) 2025 published recently.
According to the SI, no game meat shall be sold in the council area or brought into the area for sale unless it has been supplied by a game ranger registered with the council.
“No game ranger shall be registered with the council unless the facilities and the premises which he or she uses for the handling and the dressing of game meat have been approved by an officer of health and he or she produces a current game cropping and sale permit issued to him or her by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, he or she pays the fees prescribed by council,” the new law says.
The by-laws further ban vehicles from being used for the purposes of conveying or transporting game meat unless they are constructed in a manner that protects such game meat from contamination and it is kept and maintained in a clean, wholesome and sanitary condition.
The by-laws further stipulate that no game meat which has been brought into a council area from any place outside the council area shall be sold to any member of the public in the area, unless it has been inspected, marked in terms of this section by an authorised person and upon payment of the prescribed fee.
“Any person, who brings any game meat into a council area for the purpose of selling to the public, shall notify an authorised person and produce such game meat to an authorised person for inspection at the place and time specified by such authorised person,” the new law read.
“If an inspection by an authorised person of game meat produced to him or her in terms of this section reveals that such game is sound and wholesome and appears to be free from disease, the authorised person shall mark such meat with an indelible stamp indicating that such meat has been inspected, is not sound and wholesome or is diseased, he or she may seize and destroy such meat, in which case he or she shall issue a certificate in a form prescribed by council.”
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The local authority further stipulated that any person who contravenes any provision of these by-laws or fails to comply with any lawful requirements made by an authorised person in terms of these by-laws, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 3 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
