Following sustained pressure from the Democratic Alliance (DA), the Department of Agriculture has finally gazetted the outbreak Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in Limpopo. The Minister gazetting the latest outbreak of FMD could not have come at a better time, as an 11th case has been confirmed. Clearly, due to the lack of protocols thus far, the disease has managed to spread unabated.
While we welcome the decision to gazette FMD, the DA remains concerned and opposed to the decision to impose a moratorium on livestock auctions in unaffected provinces such as Mpumalanga, Gauteng and North West. We are of the view that this decision could potentially create illicit trade through the black market and that it is ultimately an ineffective management protocol of the FMD.
While the Department of Agriculture may be of the view that the temporary halt of auctions will in some way prevent the spread of this disease, the reality is that it is a poor attempt at treating a symptom of the crisis, rather than the disease itself.
The DA calls on Minister Thoko Didiza to immediately lift this moratorium and to release funding to support the sector in fighting the disease. This government conditional funding grant would go towards, amongst other things, the assignment of police and/or army to the affected areas, vaccination support, area patrol, increased veterinary services, disinfection of buildings and vehicles, inspection of animals and management of movement of livestock in the area.
The severity of this outbreak cannot be downplayed as the last outbreak of FMD in January 2019 resulted in a brief ban on South African wool and meat exports which cost the economy in excess of R10 billion.