Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen is set to review proposals from the recent high-level FMD Indaba held near Pretoria in late July. The proposals are aimed at halting the spread of the disease and strengthening South Africa’s disease-control systems. Once reviewed, Steenhuisen will appoint a task team to oversee implementation of the measures.
The two-day indaba was hosted by the Department of Agriculture (the department) in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Council (ARC). It brought together the country’s leading veterinary, agricultural, and research experts to urgently address the disease’s growing impact.
The latest report from the department’s Directorate of Animal Health states that 255 cases of FMD were reported between 1 January and 31 July this year. Nineteen have since been resolved, while 236 active cases remain.
The breakdown of cases by province is as follows:
- KwaZulu-Natal (175 active; 19 resolved)
- Gauteng (41 active; 0 resolved)
- North West (13 active; 0 resolved)
- Mpumalanga (5 active; 0 resolved)
- Free State (2 active; 0 resolved)
A consistent theme at the indaba was the urgency of addressing the shortage of FMD vaccines that had hampered national efforts to contain the disease. Delegates also called for the decentralisation of vaccination authority, arguing that qualified individuals beyond state veterinarians should be allowed to vaccinate livestock.
Speaking to Farmer’s Weekly, Dewald Olivier, CEO of Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS), said the cross-sector task team would monitor implementation, troubleshoot issues, and report back to Steenhuisen.
“We were pleased to learn about an interdepartmental meeting where the department, together with [other] government role players, wrote up the indaba discussions.
“The upcoming task team will bridge the gap between high-level strategy and on-the-ground execution, ensuring accountability every step of the way,” he said.
Olivier added that RMIS had already started putting measures in place to address the situation prior to the indaba.
“We convened over 20 stakeholder organisations, from producers and processors to exporters and service providers, to finalise our comprehensive industry plan. The plan lays out clear, phased actions on classification reform, traceability roll-out, market development, and disease resilience.
“Following these initial meetings, engagements with the stakeholder organisations will be held to ensure that farmers and [other] local role players understand their responsibilities under the new protocols,” he explained.
In a statement, the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation said it hoped the indaba would yield the following:
- Continued market access for all role players, which could be achieved through compartmental vaccination by application;
- Regulations that are well considered, practical, implementable, agreed upon by all role players, and enforced;
- A national blueprint to be followed by all provinces, as well as and training for all parties involved on how to deal with an FMD outbreak, to eliminate provincial inconsistencies and get law enforcement involved; and
- Equal treatment of all role players, big and small, primary and secondary, government and industry.
From the ARC’s side, it said it was making major strides in the development and local production of a an FMD vaccine, with plans under way for a state-of-the-art biocontainment facility and a mid-scale production system.
The council also emphasised the need to upgrade diagnostic and surveillance infrastructure, saying quicker turnaround times for sample testing could significantly reduce delays in disease detection and response.
