The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza met with the MECs from the three provinces affected by African Swine Flu in Pretoria this week to look at how best to deal with the outbreak and find a permanent solution.
African Swine Flu has been reported in domestic pigs in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West provinces since April 2019. The affected areas are Daveyton in Gauteng, Delmas and Siyabuswa in Mpumalanga and Marikana in the North West.
“We have to look at various options such as institutional arrangements working with the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) and also reflect on the issue of animal commonages in the affected areas,” Didiza said.
“We will be engaging with Ministers of Finance and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to ask for their assistance to quickly respond to this challenge,” she said.
The Minister and MECs have set up a task team to urgently look into ways to curb the spread of the disease to other provinces.
There have been interventions to contain the spread of African Swine Flu, such as active surveillance and awareness carried out in the immediate vicinity and passive surveillance is still ongoing.
The Minister has urged pig farmers to make sure that infected animals are isolated and destroyed under the supervision of or by an officer or authorised person.
