Minister Didiza must convene multiparty platform to fight FMD
19 August 2022
Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbite by Noko Masipa MP.
The DA has written to the Minister for Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, to request the convening of a multiparty platform to find a solution to the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD) as a matter of urgency.
South Africa is currently battling 116 outbreaks in six of our nine provinces and almost all these provinces have had more than one outbreak.
While FMD is devastating to all farmers affected, the burden is particularly heavy to bear for communal farmers in rural areas. The DA has continually highlighted the steady perpetual decline of the State institutions that are mandated to maintain and ensure animal health. Had Onderstepoort Biological Products and the Agricultural Research Council been fully supported by government and functioning at their full capacity, farmers across the country would not be in danger of having to cull their livestock.