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The Free State Province has now recorded 194 cases of Food and Mouth Disease (FMD); this is according to the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s latest update on the outbreak.
The outbreak is negatively impacting on the livestock sector, despite measures imposed by the department; the disease continues to plague the province mainly due to non-compliance.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Free State says it has written to the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlement Mr Teboho Mokoena to declare the province a disaster to ensure greater coordination between provincial government departments, the allocation of necessary resources, and the enforcement of critical control measures.
Dr Roy Jankielsohn, the DA Leader in the Free State says the request follows correspondence to municipalities, which underscores the seriousness of the situation and the need for immediate and decisive intervention.
“The DA welcomes the request for a meeting from the Free State MEC for Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements, Mr Teboho Mokoena, to municipalities and the MEC for Agriculture, Ms Elzabe Rockman, to discuss the spread of foot and mouth disease in the province. However, engagement alone will not be sufficient without urgent, enforceable action on the ground.
We welcome the fact that the Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, is moving to get FMD declared a national disaster. However, municipalities in the Free State have a responsibility to draft and implement by-laws regarding the movement of livestock within their areas of jurisdiction,” said Jankielsohn.
“Municipalities should already have collected information about livestock and owners operating on commonages and other municipal property. In most towns across the Free State, commonage cattle roam freely alongside roads, posing a huge threat to the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.
In some places, even municipal reserves have cattle on them with a similar lack of controls. The danger not only lies in physical contact between cattle, but also in the manure that follows their movement. Many commonage cattle are herded into enclosures in the evenings, which places a further risk on the spread and control of the disease,” he continued.
Coupled to the none-compliance of movement restrictions, Jankielsohn said cattle are also sold and illegally moved without the necessary permits, while law enforcement remains inadequate. There is also a hesitation to report the disease due to fear of quarantine, allowing infections to spread undetected.
He said since it is a state-controlled disease, it remains the responsibility of the state to vaccinate cattle, control movement and distribute information to all livestock owners. As the third sphere of government, Free State municipalities have as much responsibility as provincial and national departments regarding the reporting and control of the spread of the disease.
“Foot-and-mouth disease requires proactive leadership, coordinated enforcement, and clear accountability. Delayed or reactive responses will only deepen the crisis and place the Free State’s agricultural economy, food security, and rural livelihoods at further risk.
The DA will continue to play an active oversight role to ensure that all spheres of government fulfil their responsibilities in containing foot-and-mouth disease. We will not allow administrative hesitation, poor coordination or weak enforcement to place farmers, rural communities and the provincial economy at risk. Where government fails to act decisively, the DA will continue to lead, escalate and demand accountability in the public interest,” concluded the DA Leader Dr Roy Jankielsohn.
