Cabinet memo drafted on FMD disaster declaration

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According to the Department of Agriculture (DoA), the memorandum is now in the hands of senior government officials.

Speaking to Farmer’s Weekly after the meeting, DoA spokesperson Joylene van Wyk said the long-anticipated memorandum, aimed at unlocking broader government powers and resources to combat “one of the most severe livestock health crises in decades”, still needs to clear key approval stages before reaching Cabinet.

“We have the memorandum prepared. It will now go to the Office of the Director-General, and thereafter it will be submitted to the Economic Sectors, Investment, Employment and Infrastructure Development [ESIEID] Cluster on 10 February. It will then be submitted to the ESIEID Cabinet Committee on 18 February,” she explained.

“Once those processes are complete, we will be able to issue another update on progress.”

At a media briefing in mid-January, Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen confirmed that he would formally table a request to Cabinet to declare the FMD outbreak a national state of disaster.

Among other benefits, the declaration will enable faster deployment of law enforcement to enforce livestock movement controls, a key measure to curb the spread of the disease, and streamline logistics for vaccine rollout and essential supplies.

“We hope the state of disaster declaration will allow us, through the [National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure], to be able to get greater cooperation from the [South African Police Service], municipal and provincial traffic departments, and the [South African National Defence Force] and assist with movement control,” Steenhuisen said.

While the declaration process moves through governmental channels, Van Wyk said the DoA continues to emphasise “biosecurity, strict movement controls, and vaccination campaigns as cornerstones of its strategy to manage the outbreak and protect South Africa’s livestock industry”.