Cape Town - The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development’s (DALRRD) decision to suspend all movement of cattle in the country due to the growing outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) has been met with both support and opposition.
Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza made the decision in the hopes of halting the continued spread of the disease in the country. It means that cattle cannot be moved from one property to another for any reason for a period of 21 days, to be reviewed on a weekly basis.
Didiza’s spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo said: “The country is currently experiencing 116 outbreaks of the disease, involving farms, feedlots and communal areas in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Free State Provinces.”
Some agricultural stakeholders believed the department made the right decision, while others said it was impulsive and threatened the livelihoods of the cattle industry.
Didiza said the disease continued to spread, with 15 new properties and two new provinces affected in the last two weeks alone despite the efforts made by farmers, communities and industries to curb the illegal movement of animals.
The minister said the ban was only applicable to cattle as its movement was identified as the main cause of the outbreaks. However, the public was reminded that all cloven-hoofed animals could spread the disease.
FNB Agri-Business senior agricultural economist Paul Makube explained that although this was a short-term measure by the department, the suspension was disruptive to the supply and demand dynamics in the country.
However, he added that there were huge economic consequences for producers and value chain industries from the potential loss of the country’s FMD free status if the situation was not arrested.
DA Western Cape spokesperson on agriculture Andricus van der Westhuizen called on the national government to consider allowing FMD-free zones, such as the Western Cape, to continue to trade in cattle.
“The Western Cape government has put stringent measures in place, which has kept the province FMD free and trade moving, even while other provinces experience serious outbreaks,” Van der Westhuizen said.
ActionSA urged the minister to reconsider and revoke what they called an “illogical knee-jerk decree” as there were a variety of interventions that did not threaten to decimate the livelihoods of the cattle industry.
“ActionSA is being inundated by complaints and outrage at this latest impulsive reaction by the minister because it threatens to destroy the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and farm workers,” the party said in a statement.