SONA | Foot-and-mouth disease declared national disaster

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared foot-and-mouth disease a national disaster as the outbreak continues to hit South Africa’s cattle industry.

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Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is decimating South Africa’s cattle industry. The country saw its internationally recognised FMD‑free status revoked in 2019.Ramaphosa’s announcement came hours after ActionSA called on him to declare FMD a national disaster. President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) a national disaster as the fast-spreading outbreak batters South Africa’s cattle industry.

Announcing the move during his State of the Nation Address on Thursday night,Ramaphosa acknowledged the escalating impact of a disease that has dogged the country since it lost its internationally recognised FMD-free status in 2019,with infections spreading from the wildlife-livestock interface through animal movements.

Ramaphosa’s announcement came hours after ActionSA Parliament leader Athol Trollip called on him to declare a state of disaster on FMD when he delivers the SONA.

Outgoing DA leader and Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen,who has vowed to deal with the disease,was visibly elated by the announcement.

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So far,Steenhisen’s department has responded with disease management strategies,auction closures and movement bans,but vaccine shortages and overstretched veterinary services have hampered containment.

READ | Declare FMD a ‘state of national disaster’,ActionSA urges Ramaphosa ahead of SONA

Ramaphosa said:

While the rest of our agriculture sector is thriving,the cattle industry is today facing one of the worst outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease our country has experienced. This disease is damaging our economy,resulting in export bans,trade restrictions and devastation of herds.

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Ramaphosa said the government had decided to vaccinate the national herd of 14 million cattle,which requires 28 million vaccines over the next 12 months.

“The state will facilitate the acquisition of the vaccines centrally to ensure that we get the right vaccine for the particular strain of the virus in South Africa,” Ramaphosa said.

Speaking off the cuff,he said,as was the case during Covid-19,panic caused people to procure black market vaccines.

“But because we’re a regulated country and economy,we wanted everything to be approved by ... SAHPRA [South African Health Products Regulatory Authority]. Similarly,in this case,with cattle vaccines,SAHPRA will be the one single organisation that will give approval.”

READ | Political row erupts over SA’s foot-and-mouth disease vaccine success

Under its plan to turn the tide around,the government will work closely with the private sector to enable an efficient rollout and,most importantly,the government will see to it that commercial,private and communal farmers have immediate access to vaccines.

“I have established a task team made up of farmer organisations and experts,working together with the minister of agriculture and his department,that will report to me every month about the progress we are making in dealing with this pandemic,” Ramaphosa said.

When he announced the task team,there were jeers and echoes of support across the House.

“Why do we do this? We do this because we’ve got experts,people with great knowledge,and we need to mobilise them and bring them to work with the government because they have the know-how and the wisdom,” Ramaphosa said.

With that goal in mind,Ramaphosa announced he had declared foot-and-mouth disease a national disaster and would deploy “all necessary capabilities within the state” to address the crisis.

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