“It’s not difficult, but it’s hard work,” says former Col. Francois Schreuder about the times he led joint operational centres in 2000 and 2004 to successfully and quickly contain foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo.
By Carien Kruger, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
“We had a very good team. You sleep little, about three hours a night, but you are dedicated, have a passion for the work and are also proud of your work,” says Schreuder. He was in the army in 2000 when he was asked to chair the joint operational centre from where the campaign was managed and coordinated to stop the FMD outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal. It was brought under control within three months, thanks to strict movement control and vaccination. He was later also asked to help combat outbreaks in Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
Schreuder is now the head of security in sub-Saharan Africa for an international logistics business, after taking early retirement from the army. He recalls how extensive the control campaign was with Dr Gideon Brückner, then national director of animal health. They forged close ties and remain in contact.
Schreuder says it was a major challenge at the time to get different stakeholders working in the same direction. A total of 13 groups were involved, including the army, police, veterinary services and farmers. “Each department had different guidelines on overtime, for example. It was my job to get all these organisations under one umbrella so that everyone could pull in the same direction.”
The 2000 FMD outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal was the first in 56 years. There was no document or model describing how previous outbreaks had been handled. What did exist, says Schreuder, was the political will to tackle the outbreak quickly. “I got my mandate from the late Dr Ben Ngubane, then premier of KwaZulu-Natal. We had to move fast. When I urgently needed to buy mobile screening units and the process stalled, I could call him directly to intervene.”
Without that level of political will, it is difficult to run such a control campaign successfully, because everything has to happen quickly to stay ahead of the disease, says Schreuder. “When you get bogged down in bureaucracy, you don’t get what really needs to be done, done.”
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A Head for Logistics
The operation in KwaZulu-Natal was extensive. Schreuder had to manage the logistics, which involved many different arrangements. “For example, I had to make sure that Veterinary Services had what they needed to vaccinate animals, or that the army, police and traffic officers had what they needed to man roadblocks.
“We had hordes of roadblocks. We started with 17 and ended with 76. It was a massive logistical exercise to keep everything together. At the roadblocks, arrangements had to be made to ensure rations arrived on time and that there was accommodation for the officers involved.
“For the import of vaccine from Botswana, we had to make sure the veterinary offices had proper refrigerators to keep the vaccine at the correct temperature. Everything had to be recorded. Someone had to manage all of that, otherwise the whole operation would have fallen apart. I had to make sure everything happened at the right time and in the right place.
“The farmers, and I say this jokingly and with great respect, were probably the most difficult group to work with. They want to do things their way.
“When I went to help with the outbreak in Limpopo around 2004, I met Dr Theo de Jager, who was an agricultural leader there. It was fantastic to work with him. I didn’t have to speak to all the farmers, I just spoke to him or to a representative he appointed. It was an absolute pleasure to work with someone like that.”
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No Management Information
Schreuder says what made action during the 2000 outbreak difficult was the lack of management information, such as who the farmers were, how many animals they had and where they were located. This meant information first had to be collected before progress could be made.
In 2004 he also had to deal with cattle in rural areas under traditional authorities, where the culling of animals was not acceptable, unlike in 2000 in KwaZulu-Natal. Culling could therefore no longer be used and animals were vaccinated instead. Farmers in rural areas were unsure of the impact of these actions, there was little mutual trust and communication was difficult.
Everything Recorded
Everything that was done at the time was recorded. After the successful completion of the campaigns, a review was held and recommendations were made. Schreuder says when he was approached by the Department of Agriculture a few years later to assist again, he discovered that no one knew about these documents. He therefore declined the request, because it would have meant starting from scratch.
After his interview with African Farming, he found some of the documents in his own archives.
Today’s crisis
Schreuder says his advice in the current situation, where FMD continues to spread especially in the Free State and Gauteng, would be to appoint a logistics manager in each province and then a national logistics manager to ensure the provinces move in the same direction.
According to him, the role of the private sector is crucial. Organisations such as the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation and the South African Pork Producers’ Organisation were key participants in decision-making, planning and communication in 2000. “You can’t do it without them. It’s their industry.”
Also read:
WATCH | ‘No cows in your boot!’ – Gauteng tightens animal movement control
Biosecurity breakdown in agriculture: A call for accountability and skilled professionals
FMD | ‘Right, John… Let’s get to work’
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