State Monopoly on FMD Puts the Entire Meat Industry at Risk

“We must urgently break the state monopoly over the foot-and-mouth disease crisis so that vaccines can be placed in the hands of farmers immediately. Farmers must be allowed to vaccinate as quickly as possible to curb the uncontrolled spread of FMD,” says Francois Wilken, President of Free State Agriculture (FSA). “If this does not happen, the entire country’s meat industry will be brought to its knees.”

Free State Agriculture has been advocating for a safe and sustainable agricultural sector since 1904. We therefore need to accept the following realities and move forward with urgency:

1. FMD is a state-controlled disease – yet there is currently no control over the spread of the disease.
2. Protocols and regulations were written for a country with FMD-free status. That status was lost long ago due to failures in maintaining the red line. As a result, these protocols and regulations are outdated and no longer applicable to the current situation – South Africa has lost its FMD-free status.
3. The movement of animals cannot be stopped – South African culture prevents us from exercising effective control.
4. Biosecurity measures and the emphasis placed on them in recent times have made no difference in stopping the continued spread of the virus.

“We can no longer close down farms – we must start vaccinating immediately. The livestock industry’s economic sustainability and survival are under siege,” says Friedl von Maltitz, Vice-President of Free State Agriculture.

“We – meaning all livestock farmers in the country – cannot wait for a ten-year plan. This is now a war against the virus, and we cannot rely on the state alone. The state’s current handling of the matter clearly reflects its shortcomings in terms of capacity and systems that have completely deteriorated. Realistically, the state does not have the ability to bring the disease under control,” says Wilken.

This is confirmed in the report dated 18 May 2022 by the Animal Biosecurity Task Team, appointed by the former Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), me Thoko Didiza. The Task Team investigated three key issues, namely:
a) changes in the epidemiological evolution of animal disease challenges;
b) the country’s ability to diagnose such diseases timeously; and
c) the country’s readiness to implement realistic and scientifically justifiable remedial biosecurity measures.

The main finding of the Task Team was that the country failed in all three of these areas.

“It is therefore clear that the state does not have the capacity to effectively roll out or manage a large-scale national vaccination strategy. The handling of COVID-19 further demonstrated how billions of rands were lost due to corruption and ineffective government procurement, distribution and control mechanisms,” says Wilken.

Free State Agriculture therefore calls for:

• the immediate availability of vaccines through private institutions to import the appropriate vaccine already available internationally; and
• the immediate availability of the vaccine to farmers for purchase and administration.

“The time for talk is long gone! Farmers no longer have weeks or months to wait – only hours. Immediate action is required.”

Free State Agriculture urgently calls for action now, in the interest of farmers, to bring this crisis to an end. Cooperation and unity are now, more than ever, essential to stop this destructive virus.