Carcasses of impala, kudu and wildebeest hang from a slaughterhouse rail, ready to be turned into steaks, sausages and burger patties of the kind South Africa wants to see more of on the dinner table.
The abattoir in Bela Bela, north of Johannesburg, is among only a handful in the country dedicated to game meat.
Authorities say the untapped sector could create jobs and help preserve wildlife — while pleasing the palates of climate- and health-conscious meat eaters.
“We want to add a dimension into your dinner plate by giving you an organic game meat from the wild,” Khorommbi Matibe, the environment ministry’s biodiversity economy chief, told AFP.
A top wildlife tourism destination, South Africa produces around 60,000 tonnes of game meat a year — equivalent in weight to roughly 60,000 giraffes.
But only a fraction ends up in butcheries and supermarkets. Ninety percent is hunted and consumed informally, according to the government.
Even less is exported.
In 2019, just over 3,000 tonnes of ostrich, crocodile and zebra were shipped to the European Union, China and the UAE, it said.
Authorities would like to serve up much more.
In March, they said they want to grow the sector from 4.6 billion rand ($250 million) in 2020 to 27.6 billion rand by 2036, adopting a strategy published late last year.