The DA in the Northern Cape has warned that a shortage of vaccines in the Province could place livestock and the agricultural industry at risk.
THE DA in the Northern Cape has warned that a shortage of vaccines in the Province could place livestock and the agricultural industry at risk.
DA member of the provincial legislature Reinette Liebenberg said unpredictable rainfall patterns were creating conducive breeding conditions for the spread of deadly animal diseases such as the bluetongue virus (BTV) – a viral disease affecting sheep, cattle, goats, buffalo and antelope.
“The Province has also seen a significant number of deaths of rabbits since the rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) outbreak in October,” said Liebenberg.
“In January 2022, agricultural organisations, experts and the DA warned that animal vaccine production at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Training Centre could fail. This is fast becoming a reality.”
Liebenberg added that the Onderstepoort veterinary centre did not have BTV and RHD vaccines in stock.
“This is of great concern, especially as one case of the BTV has already been reported in the Province, with more expected to follow. The Province has also experienced high mortalities in rabbits and hares due to RHD. The survival of the endangered riverine rabbit found in the Nama-Karoo shrub land is also a matter of grave concern.”
She believed that Onderstepoort urgently needed the go-ahead from the Minister of Agriculture, Thoko Didiza, to allow private institutions to provide state veterinary centres with vaccines BTV and RHD.
Liebenberg pointed out that farmers had already incurred significant losses due to droughts, fires, load shedding and exorbitant fuel prices.
“They are set to take a further knock in respect of the potential loss of livestock and income. The non-availability of vaccines must receive urgent attention to ensure that farmers are able to protect their income, food security and the future well-being of agriculture.”
The Northern Cape MEC for Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Reform, Mase Manopole, has assured farmers that there were sufficient vaccines to prevent any animal disease outbreak.
“Due to persistent rains that might lead to outbreaks of diseases such as the African horse, bluetongue, lumpy skin, African red water, Asian red water, tick-borne gall, heart water and the Rift Valley fever, there has been a general concern that the Northern Cape might run out of availability of vaccines for the coming vaccination season.”
Manopole added that the animal vaccine supplier, Onderstepoort Biological Products, had indicated that they would have enough vaccines available to prevent any outbreaks of diseases in the Province.
“There is no need for us to panic now. I further call on our farmers to vaccinate their animals immediately, before the outbreaks start.”
She warned against bringing exotic pets into the Province. “This contributes to the spread of animal diseases when unwanted pets are released into the wild.”
Manopole added that while the rain had brought relief to farmers, many had lost infrastructure and livestock due to flooding along the banks of the lower Vaal and Orange rivers.
“Our teams are on the ground and are monitoring the situation. We receive daily updates from the Department of Water and Sanitation on the river levels and flow to determine the risk. There are few areas affected and so far one self-built levee that broke. It is too early to do any assessments. As we always caution, proper assessments can only be done after the water recedes.”
She stated that the Northern Cape was expected to produce 44,000 hectares of maize plantings area with an estimated harvest of 708,000 tons of maize.
“The department has donated R1.5 million to five emerging farmers in the Phokwane district to plant 60 hectares of yellow maize. The harvest will be stored in the provincial fodder banks and will be distributed to farmers who are in distress due to natural disasters.”
Manopole added that the Saamtrek Saamwerk organisation assisted in identifying three male and two female farmers with water rights who were prepared to plant the yellow maize.
