Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen has announced the lifting of foot-and-mouth disease restrictions in KwaZulu-Natal
Image: Courtney Africa / independent Newspapers
FARMERS in KwaZulu-Natal have called on the government to gazette the lifting of the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Disease Management Area (DMA) restrictions following the Agriculture minister’s announcement earlier this week.
The KZN Agricultural Union, Kwanalu welcomed the announcement but called on the relevant authorities to urgently finalise and publish the official Gazette and all supporting regulatory details, to provide legal certainty, practical clarity and enforceable implementation measures for the livestock sector.
“While a subsequent circulated 'notice' indicates the lifting of the DMA and references conditions applicable to the transition, it does not contain the standard verification elements of an official government gazette, including a gazette number, date and formal reference to the preceding gazette. Until the notice is properly gazetted and promulgated, uncertainty remains regarding the legal and operational status of the DMA lifting,” said Kwanalu CEO Sandy La Marque.
Kwanalu said the announcement was a huge step for the province’s agricultural sector as farmers have been forced to deal with losses running into hundreds of millions of rand ; affecting employment, product supply and ultimately the cost of living.
According to La Marque, it's been a long process involving years of engagement with the minister, government role players and agricultural stakeholders.
“Kwanalu consistently pushed for practical, science-based and economically sustainable solutions. We have consistently escalated the matter to ensure the seriousness of the situation was fully understood,” says La Marque.
Kwanalu Chairperson and beef farmer, PJ Hassard.warned that misinformation spreads quickly, especially where producers are desperate for certainty. He said the livestock industry was already dealing with significant losses and cannot afford uncertainty driven by misinformation. “Producers have carried prolonged financial and operational pressure while trying to remain compliant under extremely difficult circumstances,” he said.
“The livestock industry awaits the urgent publication of the final, official gazette and any further relevant information.”
Hassard said Kwanalu will continue to play a significant role in shaping the way forward, which includes ongoing input into policy, regulatory frameworks and disease management strategies. He said that they were committed to ensuring that any transition out of the DMA is credible, clearly defined and implementable, in the best interests of both animal health and the sustainability of the agricultural sector.
Earlier this week the Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen said that the decision to lift the restrictions was not just administrative.
“Ironically, our data now shows that the very areas tucked inside the DMA have seen fewer outbreaks compared to the regions outside its borders. We find ourselves in a position where there is more evidence of the virus circulating in the rest of the province than within the restricted management area itself.”
Steenhuisen said that farmers within the DMA have suffered financially and faced challenges that their neighbours in other districts and provinces with equally unstable infections, have not had to face.
“To continue with separate, localised rules for different parts of the same province has become scientifically and ethically difficult to justify. It is no longer fair to ask these specific farmers to carry a burden that is now a province-wide challenge,” he said.