The Democratic Alliance (DA) has appealed to Northern Cape MEC of Agriculture, Lebogang Motlhaping, to urgently implement a real-time Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) public dashboard to ensure improved disaster response.
Increasing FMD cases in the neighbouring provinces of the Free State and North West have raised concerns about the Northern Cape’s readiness to respond to potential cross-border spread.
Since confirming its first FMD case in February and initiating containment measures, with five cases confirmed so far, we have noted a lack of coordination between the provincial department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Tradition Affairs (COGHSTA), to whom disaster management is mandated, and the Northern Cape Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform, under whom disease control falls.
A lack of clear coordination between these departments risks delays and confusion at a critical time.
Despite national efforts to secure millions of vaccine doses, the lack of clear information on the vaccination roll-out out, including the pace and quantity of vaccines received and administered in the Northern Cape, is also a concern. Farmers cannot be expected to blindly comply with strict biosecurity measures, when they are not properly informed to understand or respond to the risk.
The DA has requested MEC Motlhaping to provide clarity on how disaster coordination will be managed between COGHSTA and the Northern Cape Agriculture Department, and whether a joint response plan is in place. We further called for the implementation of a real-time public dashboard that provides continuously updated information on outbreak locations, vaccination sites, vaccine stock availability, the number of animals vaccinated, and the deployment of veterinarians and animal health technicians across the Northern Cape.
FMD poses a serious threat to livelihoods, food security and the provincial economy that must be combatted through a coordinated, transparent and well communicated response.