In the face of limited state resources, it seems bizarre that agriculture minister John Steenhuisen would maintain that the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccination could only take place under state authority.
His department insists that FMD requires a “co-ordinated national approach” and that private administration of the vaccine raised concerns around traceability, cold-chain integrity and veterinary oversight.
His department has an extremely poor track record when it comes to vaccination — whether for African Horse Sickness or any other disease that annually devastates national herds.
In most cases, people are allowed to privately vaccinate because reliance on the state has proved a waste of time.
The Pretoria high court this week agreed with Sakeliga, the Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) and Free State Agriculture in their contention in litigation against Steenhuisen that there was no legal barrier to private-sector procurement and administration of FMD vaccines.
They resorted to court in February last year to interdict government interference with private importation and use of approved vaccines.
The judgment in no way provided a free-for-all framework
Steenhuisen has done a good job in terms of securing and importing a total of 13.5-million vaccine doses but administration across provinces has been erratic.
If he had allowed big commercial farmers to secure and administer their own vaccines, it would have saved the state millions of rand while simultaneously focusing its vaccination campaign on communal herds and farmers who do not necessarily have the means to vaccinate their animals.
It is often these herds that create the biggest bio-security hazard as they are free-roaming.
But, instead of trying to find a sensible and safe solution with farmers, Steenhuisen wasted, time, effort and state funds opposing the litigation.
His “vehement” opposition without any “substantive defence” earned the wrath of the court, which also criticised the department’s “engineered delays” in having the matter heard.
The judgment in no way provided a free-for-all framework.
Farmers can only procure FMD vaccines from lawful importers or manufacturers and need to adhere to strict conditions, including notifying the state veterinarian in writing before vaccinating, providing details of the location, the animals involved, the person performing the vaccination, and cold chain protocols.
It seems a simple solution that addresses Steenhuisen’s fear of the state losing control over the vaccination process while allowing commercial farmers to react with the required haste to prevent their herds being affected by the disease.
The litigation has not yet run its course.
The interdict is interim and organised agriculture must now file its full review application within 20 days.
Hopefully, Steenhuisen and his department will find a way to resolve outstanding issues using the court’s interim solution as a basis before opposing the review for the sake of it.
Daily Dispatch
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.