KwaZulu-Natal’s black livestock owners, who collectively own more than three million cattle, goats and sheep, appear as keen as their white counterparts to support and benefit from the imminent rollout of the national vaccination campaign against foot-and-mouth disease.
By Lloyd Phillips, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
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This province has been longest and hardest hit socioeconomically since what eventually became South Africa’s current foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) epidemic began in northern KwaZulu-Natal in 2021. Leaders in the provincial government have begun a series of engagements with livestock owners in KwaZulu-Natal’s one metropolitan and 10 district municipalities in anticipation of the vaccination campaign soon to be implemented in stages across this province.
African Farming attended once such meeting on Tuesday, 24 February at the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (KZN DARD’s) headquarters at Cedara College of Agriculture for livestock owners in the uMgungundlovu District. It was hosted by Siboniso Duma, the province’s MEC for Transport and Human Settlements. In attendance were local traditional leaders and mostly black livestock owners.
MEC Duma, animal health officials from the KZN DARD and representatives of the KwaZulu-Natal FMD Management Committee, which is a public/private partnership to facilitate the speedy and effective rollout of the vaccine across the province, provided an overview to the meeting’s attendees of what they could expect from the vaccination campaign and what was expected from them.
MEC Duma pointed out that the uMgungundlovu District alone has more than 109 000 cattle belonging to black owners – most of whom are subsistence or small-scale farmers – that are targeted for vaccination against FMD.
“KwaZulu-Natal has been allocated 200 000 doses [of the first consignment of one million doses recently imported from Argentina]. The second consignment of 1.5 million doses will arrive [in South Africa] next week.”
John Steenhuisen, the national Minister of Agriculture, has reportedly planned for five million doses to have entered the country by the end of March. Further monthly imports and local vaccine production will reportedly continue with the aim of vaccinating 80%, or approximately 9.6 million head, of the national cattle herd of an estimated 12 million to 14 million animals by December 2026.
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Records from Dip-tank Committees and Traditional Leaders
Livestock owners who addressed the leaders of the meeting at Cedara College of Agriculture were all in favour of the vaccination campaign. Their greatest commonly expressed desire is for the urgently needed marketing avenues for their animals to be reopened as soon as possible.
Reuben Nkontwana, a livestock owner from Impendle within uMgungundlovu, pointed out that the committees of many of KwaZulu-Natal’s more than 2 000 communal dip-tanks have detailed records of the names of their members and of how many animals they each own. This information can be shared with animal health authorities to guide their vaccination strategy and to assist with associated traceability.
“In my district, even though not being able to sell our animals has been a big struggle, we have been proactive with stopping livestock sales and with preventing the movement of animals. We now ask for priority with receiving the vaccinations. We now ask for priority with being allowed to start selling our animals again.”
Another livestock owner who spoke from the floor, but whose name is unknown, agreed with Nkontwana, adding that traditional leaders should also be approached for their records of livestock owners and their animals.
“Please don’t delay with getting the vaccines to communal areas. Many of us who have not been able to sell our animals because of foot-and-mouth now also don’t even have the money to buy other medications for our animals. Many of us want to give up farming with livestock.”
Londi Dlamini, a livestock owner from Mpofana within uMgungundlovu, expressed concern that the extremely poor condition of many important access roads across many parts of rural KwaZulu-Natal will significantly slow the rollout of FMD vaccines to these areas.
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‘This Sickness Doesn’t Know Boundaries’
Donda Xulu, another livestock owner from Mpofana, expressed concern that there are not nearly enough state animal health officials in KwaZulu-Natal to be able to consistently and speedily vaccinate hundreds of animals day after day for months on end.
“We livestock owners already know how to vaccinate our animals with other vaccines. We understand that FMD is a state-controlled disease. So, we are offering our help to vaccinate our own animals with this vaccine, under the oversight of a state animal health official. We are asking for permission to do so.
“We are also asking that nobody is forgotten with this vaccination campaign. Everyone must be treated equally. This sickness doesn’t know boundaries. It doesn’t discriminate between commercial and communal livestock owners.”
James Kean, chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal FMD Management Committee and a commercial milk producer from Mpofana, agreed with Xulu that FMD affects all livestock owners.
“I’ve had hundreds of my dairy cows infected and suffering. I’ve had to shoot some that were beyond the help of any treatment. It’s extremely distressing.
“We know that all livestock owners need the vaccine. It’s why our committee has representatives from all livestock sectors across KwaZulu-Natal. We want vaccines to get to everyone as fast as possible. Our committee wants to get markets open again for all livestock owners.”
Also read and watch:
Here’s how the FMD vaccines will be rolled out
Cost of FMD vaccines – ‘Now is not the time to make a profit,’ says Steenhuisen
Millions of FMD vaccine doses on the way
