Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen has sounded the alarm over the economic toll of the ongoing foot and mouth disease outbreak, warning that losses have run into hundreds of millions.
“It runs into the hundreds of millions. Bear in mind it's not only consumers. There's also corporate consumers, restaurant chains, fast food places [which] all rely on operations like this and others like it to keep their businesses going,” said Steenhuisen.
Speaking during an oversight visit to the Karan Beef feedlot in Heidelberg on Monday, Steenhuisen outlined the broad-reaching impact of the outbreak, which was confirmed at the facility on June 2.
Steenhuisen said this has had a knock-on effect on disrupted supply chains.
“The price of meat has gone up as a result of the supply and demand disruption due to foot and mouth disease, so it does cause big disruptions in the value chain and consumers ultimately pay more,” he said.
The visit, which was conducted jointly with Gauteng MEC for agriculture and rural development Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, was aimed at assessing containment efforts and demonstrating the government’s commitment to halting the spread of the disease.
The outbreak has affected several provinces with many cases recorded in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and cases confirmed in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West.
“At the moment there are big outbreaks in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. We have picked up cases in Mpumalanga and North West, but those are being dealt with on a much smaller scale. The real problem is in KwaZulu-Natal,” said Steenhuisen.
The virus can only move out of the disease management area if people break the regulations.
— John Steenhuisen, Agriculture minister
He said the spread was largely because of unauthorised movement of livestock and noncompliance at animal auctions.
“I’ve had to extend the disease management area twice because it has spread, and that’s largely through unauthorised movement of animals and some auction events that did not follow the correct procedures,” he said.
The minister issued a stern warning to those who flout disease containment protocols, saying criminal and civil consequences will follow.
“There’s a criminal charge for it but also I believe those people expose themselves to civil recoveries. Places that have an outbreak as a result of unlawful behaviour would be able to claim damages, which would be quantifiable. A place such as Karan Beef can quantify the damage caused.”
Steenhuisen said with advanced tracing technologies authorities are increasingly able to identify sources of outbreaks.
He cited a previous incident in Humansdorp as an example of the consequences of ignoring regulations.
“That was on a much smaller scale and caused between R80m and R100m worth of damage to the dairy sector,” he said.
When asked how long it would take to bring the outbreak under control, Steenhuisen said the timeline depends on public co-operation.
“It depends whether people adhere to the regulations. What we don’t want is more spread or events. If you have people who move animals outside the disease management area or break the protocols, we’re going to see breakouts in other parts of the country,” he said.
Steenhuisen emphasised the virus only spreads through breaches of movement protocols, not spontaneously.
“The virus can only move out of the disease management area if people break the regulations. It’s going to depend entirely on co-operation,” he said.
Ramokgopa stressed the need for a uniform biosecurity approach across all farming sectors.
“It’s about taking it to the next level to contain any additional spread of foot and mouth disease. What’s been very encouraging is co-operation between the Gauteng department of agriculture and national government,” said Ramokgopa.
“We must ensure a uniform biosecurity standard as a country and as a province, regardless of whether you are a small-scale farmer or a large farmer.”
To combat the outbreak, the government has allocated R43m to procure vaccines. Steenhuisen confirmed the first shipment comprising more than 900,000 doses arrived in South Africa last week, with vaccinations beginning over the weekend.
TimesLIVE
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