Another large shipment of livestock to the Middle East has received the go-ahead from the SA government, and assembly and quarantining of the animals is said to be underway at a feedlot outside East London.
This is according to the NSPCA which has said it will fight, again, to prevent the loading.
According to the NSPCA, Middle Eastern livestock traders Al Mawashi will consign a total of around 56 000 sheep and 1 000 head of cattle to the Persian Gulf.
Although the carrying ship has not been confirmed it could conceivably be the 41-year-old Kuwaiti-flag Al Messilah, which carried the controversial shipment loaded at East London last year.
She is currently in the Persian Gulf, and if she sails directly to East London in the second week of June will arrive off East London towards the end of the month for loading.
The current shipment, if it goes ahead, will directly flout the proposed regulations on live animal exportation drafted by the SA government and which directly suggest the prohibition of any seaborne shipment of livestock from South Africa through the tropics in the Northern summer months because of the extreme ocean and atmospheric temperatures at that time of the year.
The shipment will also take place after the death last month of 43 South African cattle, also from East London, aboard a much smaller vessel belonging to the Mauritian government that sailed into a severe storm en route to the island.
The NSPCA has, again, vowed to fight to prevent the current Al Mawashi shipment from proceeding.