Please find attached soundbite by Noko Masipa MP.
Unless the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) take immediate steps to intervene, foot and mouth disease (FMD) could become endemic in all red zones areas in the country and further damage South Africa’s economy at large.
There have been several new outbreaks in areas that were previously FMD free zones, despite multiple warnings from the DA and the agriculture industry at large. The Department’s poor management of the country’s animal health and biosecurity have needlessly endangered the livestock industry and all those dependent on it to earn a living – including the majority of black emerging and communal farmers who own an estimated 40% of livestock in the country.
If the Department does not take immediate action, this situation will widen the already disturbing inequalities in South Africa, and give rise to further unemployment in the agriculture sector and damage the export of South African meat products. While the DA does not believe in suspending the bilateral trade of livestock between countries, we understand the fears of our trading partners. The country’s trading relationship with China is already souring due to FMD outbreaks, and we simply cannot afford to further damage our reputation.
The poor management of animal diseases ranging from the management of Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP), the production of vaccines, and biosecurity have been a concern for a while, which the DA has repeatedly raised with Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza. The Minister and her provincial MECs of Agriculture seem to have chosen the route of willing blindness and deafness, and have little sympathy for the livestock farmers and workers they and DALRRD are meant to serve. They seem to view the livestock sector as nothing more than a nuisance whose problems and disasters are their own.
The FMD outbreak can, however, be managed successfully if the Department acts now. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has a very clear and simple guideline pertaining to the management of FMD that includes the movement of animals; control over people and animal strategies; sampling, tracing and surveillance of animals; vaccination of animals; and culling of the exposed livestock.
The Department must employ the following actions as a matter of urgency:
- For the Department to restore faith in South Africa’s livestock sector, it must start to provide regular scientific and credible data evidence to OIE and all stakeholders about its management of the disease;
- The immediate creation of FMD free zones. This must include drawing a map demarcating the North and the South using the Orange River as a cut offline or any other which could be deemed credible for this exercise;
- Ensuring that trade of livestock in the unaffected areas continues under strict conditions;
- Improving working relations between DALRRD and the South African Police Service (SAPS) to ensure no movement of livestock from the Red Zone into the FMD free zones;
- Bringing veterinary experts such as Dr. Bruckner, who during the 2000 FMD outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal, managed to get co-operation of provinces and dealt decisively with the FMD outbreak;
- Strengthening the powers of the National Director of Veterinary services in becoming more resourceful in managing the biosecurity challenges between the provinces; and
- Ensuring that those who failed to discharge their duties in stopping the widespread of FMD are formally investigated and if necessary be charged. There has been more FMD outbreaks in the 6th term of parliament than any other. It cannot be business as usual. There is a video showing DALRRD conducting a livestock auction with no biosecurity. This must be investigated immediately.
Now more than ever, the industry and Department must work together. It’s crucial that DALLRD get its house in order by holding people responsible and preventing the further spread of FMD.