His Majesty King Misuzulu kaZwelithini and KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Thembeni kaMadlopha-Mthethwa, had a meeting to talk about the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks that have hit all but one district in the province. They also spoke about rural development and getting rural women access to land so they can fight food insecurity.
By Maile Matsimela, Digital Editor at African Farming
The big meeting, which included department officials and the King’s people, took place at eMashobeni Royal Palace in Pongola. This comes at a time when FMD cases are shooting up in the province, with the SAT2 FMD virus being the main problem in most cases.
King Pledges Support for Disease Control
The department says the King was happy with how it is handling the disease problems, but he stressed that it needs to do more vaccinations and awareness campaigns, and implement tighter controls on moving animals from the declared Disease Management Areas (DMAs).
Also read: FMD | KZN farmers set up their own control points (and more to follow)
The King also promised to get people involved in farming to sort out food insecurity and to back the department’s work to stop illegal movement of animals from infected areas.
“FMD is spreading more, especially in communal areas next to game reserves. To help stop this, nobody must move animals from FMD-declared areas without a permit. This includes those swapping cattle for lobola. Let’s work together on this. I’m committing my institution, including traditional leaders, to work together with departmental officials,” said the King.
MEC Commits to Collaboration
Taking the King’s advice to heart, kaMadlopha-Mthethwa has also pledged that her department will work closely with the King, especially to get communities into farming.
“The King has shown great leadership by quarantining his cattle for 28 days, and we salute him for supporting our call for this quarantine, because any cattle brought to a farm must be kept away from the existing herds for at least 28 days. We will also step up our efforts to make sure agricultural projects and cooperatives do well by giving production inputs, fencing and other farming activities,” she said.
Also read: MEC calls on traditional leaders to support land access for farmers
“We are encouraged by the King’s wise words to serve all the people by making sure service delivery is seen and felt in every corner of the province. Agriculture is the backbone of our economy in the province. It creates jobs and sorts out food insecurity. Research shows that about 17% of households from Zululand, UMkhanyakude and uMzinyathi are food insecure, and because of this, our budget focuses on service distribution in these districts.”
Department Working Round the Clock
The department assures livestock farmers, owners and everyone else that it’s working around the clock to deal with the disease affecting most districts in the province. The rising FMD cases aren’t just a KwaZulu-Natal problem – several other provinces are also battling with the disease hitting communal, commercial feedlots and dairy farms.
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This is why the department, led by MEC kaMadlopha-Mthethwa, recently held a Consultative Indaba on FMD with industry experts in Durban, private and state veterinary technicians, and livestock associations to find a proper solution to the problem.
Indaba Resolutions Being Implemented
The department is now putting the Indaba’s decisions into action, which include:
- Getting farmers, speculators, auctioneers and citizens to stick to livestock movement restrictions and use movement permits when moving animals from the DMA;
- Asking the Agricultural Research Council Onderstepoort Veterinary Research (ARC-OVR) to share circulating FMD strains with vaccine manufacturers;
- Fast-tracking efforts to authorise Allerton Provincial Veterinary Laboratory as a second FMD diagnostic laboratory;
- Asking the national Department of Agriculture to urgently provide enough FMD vaccine and ensure preventative vaccination of livestock in the province; and
- Continuing to help with market access for farmers, especially previously disadvantaged farmers in the DMA.
The department has sent veterinarians across the province, who are working on the ground helping affected farmers and teaching people about the disease.
Also read: KZN unites against foot-and-mouth disease crisis
Vaccination Progress Across Districts
Since FMD came back in 2021, about 800 000 cattle have been vaccinated. Of these, 324 700 were vaccinated both in and out of the DMA this year alone. Here’s a list of vaccinated cloven-hoofed animals in districts where vaccinations happened:
- UMkhanyakude District: 57 261 vaccinations
- Zululand District: 39 041
- Amajuba District: 107 759
- uThukela District: 24 550
- King Cetshwayo District: 9 671
- uMzinyathi District: 28 325
- uMgungundlovu District: 37 000
- Harry Gwala District: 21 235
For Zululand specifically, vaccinations are as follows:
- Nongoma: 15 123 (July to August)
- Abaqulusi: 9 867
- Ulundi: 10 424 (April to July)
- eDumbe: 3 627
- Pongola: 0
Current Disease Status
All districts except Ugu have suspected or confirmed FMD cases.
As noted during the recent Indaba on FMD in Durban, the problem is exacerbated by the illegal movement of cattle from the DMA or infected zones despite strict animal movement measures put in place by the government. Everyone is responsible for following the established animal movement restrictions and rules. The department is calling on farmers to stick to biosecurity measures to support efforts to contain and get rid of the disease.
Also read:
FMD in Western Cape: All infected animals vaccinated
Help stop FMD: Take the national survey
