LIMPOPO – The DA in Limpopo says they will write to the MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development, Nakedi Kekana, demanding urgent intervention into failures by the province’s State Veterinary Services to properly record and issue proof of Foot-and-Mouth Disease vaccinations.

The party says these failures undermine disease control, livestock movement management, and farmers’ ability to trade commercially.

What happened in Vhembe

In a recent incident, cattle in the Vhembe area were reportedly vaccinated by State Veterinary Services on March 17 and 18.

However, proper proof of which identified animals had been vaccinated was not issued at the time by the state veterinarian.

The farmer later needed proof of vaccination for auction purposes, as cattle in affected areas cannot be moved or traded without reliable vaccination and traceability documentation.

Instead of receiving immediate confirmation, the farmer struggled for weeks before basic proof was provided, and only after intervention by the DA.

What documentation should include

The DA says the State Veterinary team’s duty, once it vaccinated the cattle, was to record and confirm the vaccination event by reference to the farmer’s animal identification records.

At minimum, the party says, documentation should reflect the farmer’s animal list or ear-tag numbers, the date of vaccination, the vaccine batch number, the vaccine strain or type used, and the signature and stamp of the responsible veterinary authority.

Risk of fraud and manipulation

If vaccination information is not recorded accurately at the time of vaccination, the process becomes vulnerable to error, manipulation, and potential fraud.

Animals can later be substituted, vaccination status becomes difficult to verify, and unlawful movement, irregular livestock trading, and fraudulent vaccination claims become easier.

Commercial consequences for farmers

Poor vaccination records have serious commercial consequences, the DA says.

Farmers cannot be expected to comply with disease-control measures while being left without the documentation needed to continue trading, conclude sales, participate in auctions, or carry on their farming businesses.