The Democratic Alliance has taken a swipe at the Department of Agriculture and related affiliates for failing to aid and protect farmers following the second outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) this year.
“The department as well as its entities, the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and its affiliate Onderstepoort Biological Product (OBP), which are mandated to aid farmers and the livestock industry in times of crisis, have failed to come to the party,” DA member Noko Masipa said on Monday.
Livestock auctions across South Africa have shut down after the disease was discovered on a cattle farm in Limpopo..
Masipa, who is part of the DA’s Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development, said the most recent serotope was the same as that discovered during the Vhembe FMD outbreak earlier this year..
He said it “confirms the inability of these entities to effectively work together to serve our livestock industry.”
Masipa stressed that it was particularly disturbing “that neither of these entities have ensured any form of post-outbreak management protocols, which include testing, vaccination and general management of red zone areas”.
The DA has also called for an investigation into the R188 million granted to the ARC to build an FMD research facility, which has gone missing.
As a result South Africa has to rely on neighbouring Botswana for vaccines.
Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland have suspended livestock and meat imports from South Africa, costing the country millions in lost revenue. The first outbreak of FMD in January resulted in a loss of R10 billion to the economy. – Bjorn Vorster