MyZA

News, Directory, Events and Other Stuff

You are here: Home / News / MTT Report Finally Released

MTT Report Finally Released

Dear Editor

Earlier this year, the DA wrote to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, requesting her to present a report of the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) that she established in August 2021 to investigate animal biosecurity with an emphasis on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), African swine fever (ASF), and highly pathogenic avian Influenza (AI).

The Minister promised to release this report by the end of April 2022. Since then, South Africa experienced the highest number of foot and mouth diseases with six out of the nine provinces reporting the outbreak of FMD in 2022 while the animal biosecurity report was held in a locked cabinet.

A year later, on 24 March 2023, the reply received from Minister Didiza was that the report has been finalized, and its recommendations are currently being implemented. However, members of the portfolio committee on agriculture, land reform and rural development were never briefed or presented with the report.

During yesterday’s budget vote 29 on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, the DA again expressed its unhappiness about the establishment of multiple task teams with no reports being tabled before the committee. The report was subsequently released after the budget vote, yet unacceptably without a plan of action from her department. (Please find the report attached.)

However, the report comes too little too late for many horse and sheep farmers who have already lost their herds because they were unable to vaccinate on time due to shortages of the African horse sickness and blue tongue vaccines. The livestock industry is experiencing carnage because of promises of vaccines that were not kept.

While the reply from the Minister indicated that there are already actions in place, the DA calls for the urgent release of the implementation plan and the scorecard linked to the plan.

The DA shall study the report and make pronouncements and recommendations on areas that the Minister needs to address with immediate effect.

Regards

Noko Masipa MP
DA Shadow Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

Category: Tag:

If you feel strongly about this article then feel free to send MyZA a ‘Letter to the Editor’ using the submission form below:

Letter to the Editor

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
If this is in response to an article please include that article title here or as the lead in for the first paragraph of your Letter below.

Separate tags with commas

Localise your letter by naming the city your words are about. Add relevant words describing your subject. Single comma separated words of no more than 5
Your Name(Required)
Your Name will be linked to the website below.
Your personal, business or social media web site
Choose NO to not set up a user account on MyZA. User Accounts will allow you to submit letters under your own Author Name

3 Latest Letters to the Editor:

  • Congratulations to the Lotto Winner

    Dear Editor Dear Editor, I was thrilled to hear about the R8.5 million Lotto win for the community of Gqeberha. Such life-changing news brings hope and excitement to everyone in the area. I congratulate the winner and wish them all the best with their prize. May this bring positive change to their life and the…

  • Opinion on Lotto Winner News

    Dear Editor Congratulations to the lucky winner! This is truly wonderful news for the community. Regards Marina Adams In Response to/From: Congratulations to the Lucky Winner

  • Regarding Lotto Winner Story

    Dear Editor Congratulations to the winner, this is wonderful news for the community. Wishing them the best for the future. Regards Willem Pieterse In Response to/From: Re: R8.5 Million Lotto Winner Claims Prize in Gqeberha

Reader Interactions

Comments