By BAKANG MOKOTO
26 June 2025- The Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West calls on the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Russell Dial, to summon the North West MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Madoda Sambatha, before the committee to report on the plan and progress made in the fight against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the province.
The DA is concerned over the alarming delay and lack of preparedness demonstrated by MEC Sambatha and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in responding to the confirmed outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the province.
The DA spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development in the North West Provincial Legislature Jóhni Steenkamp who is also a Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL) said, despite the FMD outbreak being confirmed as early as 16 June 2025, the provincial Joint Operations Centre (JOC) only convened its first meeting on 23 June 2025, more than a week later.
“This unacceptable delay in activating the JOC has put our province’s livestock industry at serious risk, undermined containment efforts, and exposed devastating gaps in provincial biosecurity protocols. This is not just an administrative oversight; this is a failure of leadership.
“Moreover, it has come to our attention through credible sources that farms placed under quarantine were allowed to move livestock without consequence and shockingly, some were quarantined without the department first establishing how many animals were on-site,” he said.
Steenkamp further said clearly the department cannot even perform the most basic functions of record-keeping and enforcement, let alone manage an outbreak. He added that the National Department of Agriculture, under Minister John Steenhuisen, has demonstrated urgency and decisive action in coordinating a national response, including the rollout of over 900 000 vaccine doses and tightening animal movement regulations.
“However, Sambatha continues to fall short in matching that momentum at provincial level. He must be held accountable for the administrative chaos and complacency that have defined his department’s response to this outbreak. The farmers of the North West deserve better.
“The DA demands urgent action and will not sit back while provincial inaction jeopardises the livelihoods of farmers, the provincial economy, and our biosecurity standards,” said Steenkamp.
Meanwhile, the North West MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Madoda Sambatha said his department was alerted by a Private Veterinarian, who had visited the farm and saw suspicious signs. Sambatha said the State Veterinarian collected samples, which were sent to the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI) to test for the disease.
“Another incident was first detected at an abattoir in Madibeng. The clinical signs of the affected animals were missed at ante-mortem inspection but were detected on the slaughter line during the Meat Inspection process. Tissue samples were sent to the laboratory and the results came back confirming both SAT 2 and SAT 3 types of the virus.
“The unslaughtered animals were escorted back to the farm of origin, a feedlot in Ventersdorp, through a Red Cross permit. Both farms linked to the outbreak have been put under quarantine, prohibiting the movement of animals and animal products,” he said.
Sambatha said his department has identified all the farms that are linked to the Gauteng outbreak and are being sampled for testing to confirm if they are positive or not. He said all such farms have also been put under precautionary quarantine until the test results are back.
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The Guardian 