The judgment in the Pretoria High Court against the Minister of Agriculture and other state institutions is a victory for every livestock and game farmer in South Africa. After more than a year of uncontrolled spread of this state-controlled disease, it finally offers hope that the involvement and initiative of the private sector can provide the critical capacity needed to stop the disease.
Saai is pleased with the victory in court, but our hearts go out to those for whom it came too late, and who have already suffered major losses or even lost everything while waiting for the state to obtain vaccines.
In his judgment, Judge Van der Westhuizen confirmed that the Minister, his department and senior officials never had a valid defence, and are responsible for the months-long delay in implementing an effective private-sector-led vaccination campaign, which caused hundreds of farming operations to collapse or suffer severe damage.
The judgment is also a victory against the unjustified centralisation of decision-making, power and implementation within the state, which long ago lost the capacity to effectively combat animal diseases, as well as against every political party, the Department of Agriculture, agricultural organisations, academics and activists who sought to protect and promote cadre control. It is a victory against unchecked abuses of power that caused immeasurable material and emotional damage to livestock farmers.
Saai also regards this as a victory against organisations that farmers trusted to represent their interests, but which over time became more critical of the court case than of the state itself.
Saai hopes that the Minister, his department and their loyal supporters within the agricultural industry will accept the judgment, and that they will no longer work against farmers and their representative organisations in ways that sabotage the fight against FMD.
Saai believes this judgment can now finally place the livestock industry on the front foot in the war against FMD.
To read the full judgement: https://bit.ly/FMD_Judgment-Sakeliga-Saai-VL
