Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni on Thursday said the government acknowledged that there might be a threat to food security, especially poultry products such as eggs and meat, if the highly pathogenic influenza was not successfully managed.
Addressing a post-cabinet briefing, Ntshavheni said the cabinet noted the current outbreaks of highly pathogenic influenza in the poultry industry in the country.
The Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have been hard hit.
“Control measures to manage the spread of the outbreaks are in place and farmers are encouraged to observe prescribed biosecurity measures,” she said.
Ntshavheni also said the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) and the industry were exploring applications for the registration of possible vaccines, with compliance measures relating to safety, efficacy and quality being paramount for registration of such vaccines.
She said the outbreak of the bird flu posed food security risks, and trade measures in the form of imports to manage availability of fertile eggs, table eggs and poultry meat may be implemented.
“There is an acknowledgement that if we are not successful in the management of the avian flu, there might be a threat to food security – availability of poultry products such as eggs and meat.
The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Trade and Industry will have to work out on mechanisms they consider should be preventative and make sure that there is no shortage of poultry products.
“They are confident in the measures that have been put in place, working with the industry to mitigate the impact of avian bird flu, and that is why they work with Sahpra on the vaccine.”
She said the Department of Agriculture would continue to work with the provinces to ensure those that were not affected by were insulated from the outbreak and ramped up production to minimize imports and increase production locally.
Ntshavheni also said the cabinet was being kept abreast of the devastation caused by severe storms and flooding in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng, with indications that this will likely spread to other provinces.
“Cabinet calls on communities to remain on high alert for further extreme weather warnings, which could bring further devastation across the country,” she said.
Ntshavheni added that the cabinet approved at least three bills with the SABC Bill to be submitted to Parliament.
“Once passed into law, the Bill will result in the repeal of the current Broadcasting Act, 1999 (Act 4 of 1999).
The amendments will strengthen the efficiency of the operations of the public broadcaster,” she said.
Ntshavheni said the bill proposed reforms in the SABC’s funding model and the TV-licensing system.
The public broadcaster is battling to collect TV licence fees.
In July, Communication and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele said a total of 9.2 million accounts have outstanding balances valued at R44.2 billion.
The department was proposing that the television licence model be replaced with the household fee model. Cabinet has also approved the publication of the draft Water Services Amendment Bill for public comments as well as the draft National Water Amendment Bill.
Cape Times