Cape Town - Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza has announced an end to the countrywide ban on the movement of cattle.
This applies to provinces excluding the new Disease Management Areas in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State.
The department on Thursday said the decision is based on the work done by the state veterinary services, private vets and animal health technicians over the past 21 days that the ban on the movement of cattle has been in place.
The department noted that the cooperation of traditional leaders, communities and the police, assisted in limiting the spread.
“It is encouraging that the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape Provinces have not had a single case before and during the 21 days.
“In Gauteng and North West there have been suspect cases around quarantined farms and in Mpumalanga no new cases have been picked up in the past week.”
In Limpopo the department said it will retain the disease management area in the protected zone and around it.
In the Free State, the disease management area will cover those areas where no improvement has been observed, such as Marquad, Viljoenskroon and Harrismith.
In KwaZulu-Natal the disease management area will be retained in KwaNongoma, Ulundi, KwaHlabisa, eHluhluwe and eMtubatuba.
“In an effort to limit the negative effects of the disease as much as possible, the minister has taken the decision to repeal the control measures relating to foot and mouth disease as prescribed in the Government Notice No. 2075 of 10 May 2022 and Government Notice No.2391 of 18 August 2022, and allow movements under certain conditions as outlined below, in the rest of the country except the new Disease Management Areas in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State. Further details describing the Disease Management Areas are in the Gazette Notice.
“All movements must be accompanied by an owner declaration, a recipient undertaking to isolate the animals for at least 28 days before introducing them onto the main herd, and all Stock Theft documents (Section 6 and section 8 documents)."
The department said it would continue with surveillance and vaccination in the areas that still have active infections and called on farmers and communities to observe the health protocols that have been put in place and refrain from illegal movement of cattle/animals.
“Once again I call for improvement in the primary animal health care and the strengthening of biosecurity measures by all farmers, feedlots and auctioneers,” Didiza said.
Cape Times