South Africa's livestock and farmers are under siege from a host of diseases that are crippling exports, threatening jobs and even hobbling the horse-racing industry.
Organisations this week confirmed temporary bans on the export of racehorses, poultry products and ostrich meat after several of the world's worst plant and animal diseases were diagnosed in local animals and crops in the past year.
Along with farmers, they are now calling for immediate government intervention.
They say the problem is mainly due to failing state agricultural infrastructure, such as veterinary and quarantine services being hard hit by staff vacancies of up to 35%.
This week, the Sunday Times established that:
- Stock farmers are reeling from the worst-yet outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, resulting in the emergency vaccination of 93000 cattle;
- The Western Cape vaccinated 200000 livestock to prevent the spread of Rift Valley fever in the province after outbreaks last year in other provinces. Cases are still being reported countrywide;
- Farmers culled 5000 ostriches last month following an outbreak of bird flu, H5N2, on farms near Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape;
- The Western Cape has set up a task team to investigate government assistance to thousands of ostrich-farm workers who stand to lose their jobs owing to the ban on ostrich meat exports, worth R1-billion a year;
- The South African racehorse industry has lost its "free status" with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) following an outbreak of African horse sickness in Mamre in the Western Cape which killed several horses; and
- Fruit farmers have reported an upsurge in the number of crippling pests.
The Department of Agriculture denied it was facing an administrative crisis.
Spokesman Steve Galane would not be drawn on the spate of animal diseases, but said plant pests were a global phenomenon.
However, the Western Cape's MEC for agriculture, Gerrit van Rensburg, acknowledged that the government faced "a very difficult time with diseases affecting our various animal industries".
He said the province had launched a vaccination and quarantine programme "to minimise the impact of the outbreaks".
Red Meat Producers' Organisation chairman Gerhard Schutte said the government had been warned of a possible foot-and-mouth scourge several months before the February outbreak in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
"It is a capacity problem at this stage - it is just not acceptable."
He said disease was spreading owing to government failures, including a lack of adequate fencing on the Mozambique border, a shortage of state vets and a major decline in investment in biological products such as vaccinations.
"Two years ago, we identified these problems," Schutte said.
"The outbreak in the northern part of Natal is not a one-off. The red lights are on everywhere.
"Our worry is that any disease can have an impact on international trade. We have lost our status now with the OIE for at least the next three years."
The OIE has also revoked the "free status" of South African racehorses, said Peter Gibson, the chief executive of Racing South Africa.
The R350-million-a-year industry is now applying for permission to export horses to Europe during the disease-free winter months.
The horse-racing industry employs 17000 people and betting on horse races contributes taxes of about R450-million a year to state coffers.
The disease crisis has also hit plant crops, according to representatives of the fruit farmering industry who met government quarantine officials in Stellenbosch earlier this month to discuss a way forward.
Research at Stellenbosch University shows that at least 13 alien crop pest species arrived in South Africa over the past 12 years.
Phillip Fourie, chairman of the industry liaison committee, said: "We have discussed all the issues on the table ... however, the Department of Agriculture needs time to resolve these issues and return with solutions."
The government has proposed a year of community service for veterinary students to bolster rural support services.
Kevin Lovell, head of the Southern Africa Poultry Association, said scientific evidence suggested that some of the most serious disease outbreaks began in Durban, the country's biggest port and entry point for a massive volume of agricultural imports.
