The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) is cautiously optimistic that the Minister of Agriculture, Mr John Steenhuisen, will tomorrow announce a coherent Section 10 plan for vaccinating against foot-and-mouth disease, as ordered by the court.
In fact, it is unthinkable that this course of action had to be taken.
Private veterinarians in South Africa possess a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to infectious diseases. They should have been the Minister’s first port of call in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture’s state veterinarians. Unfortunately, he turned down the hand extended by private veterinary networks.
It is ironic that Steenhuisen repeatedly claims he inherited a problematic Department and cannot solve thirty years of problems in two years.
Instead of verifying the recommendations from that Department with experts in the private sector, he adopted a defiant attitude over the past few months by attempting to draw out the legal process. Consequently, on 28 April 2026, the court instructed him to announce the vaccination plan by tomorrow in addition to issuing a punitive cost order.
In the meantime, Steenhuisen revealed that he had consulted Brazilian experts on the disease. It is quite alright to learn from other countries that have already successfully combated the disease, but why is he not willing to learn from experts in his own country? They are, after all, much more familiar with local conditions and many had contributed to ensuring that South Africa enjoyed foot-and-mouth disease-free status for decades.
The general impression this creates is that the current Minister prefers problems he can fix with words alone. That is why he likes to visit overseas markets to negotiate access for South African products. This is undoubtedly positive, provided production in South Africa meets international requirements.
A disease such as foot-and-mouth disease cannot be talked away. It requires focused, expert recommendations that are effectively implemented.
This disease already posed a problem when Steenhuisen took office as Minister. If he had taken the right steps at the outset, he could have been the hero of agriculture today, instead of being disdained by many role players.
Freedom Front Plus Economic Policy: The FF Plus promotes free market principles and economic freedom.
StarZen
Who was it that said that the ANC will rule until Jesus returns?
Commando
So I\’m real good friends with this guy named Juan Ted. Now, Juan is a pretty improbable guy. He can steal ANYTHING he wants to. Literally anything. It could be the shirt off your back, the wallet in your pocket, or I\’m even sure he\’d find a way to steal your house (And your spouse too). So anyway, one day Juan and I are sitting around watching TV, and they announced that the hope diamond will not be on display anymore and is now getting moved to an undisclosed location. So as we hear this, Juan says \”I\’m gonna steal it\”. Now I know how good Juan is at this kind of stuff, so I just tell him good luck and he goes on his way. Eventually he narrows his search down to a small cave in South Africa. When Juan gets there, he doesn\’t see any guards or anything outside the cave, so he just walks in assuming he was wrong about where the diamond was. He wanders around for a while until he sees a long lit hallway with the hope diamond at the end of it. Confident in his abilities, he strolls over to the diamond and picks it up before realizing its a trap! Suddenly, red lights flashed, armed men came running out, sirens went off. You could hear one of the men say under his breath \”We finally caught Juan Ted.\” But Juan, being the best thief in the world, said \”Not quite. On the count of three, I will disappear.\” As the men looked around confused, Juan began to count. \”Uno. Dos.\” And he disappeared without a tres.