Anyone who does not tow the line and instead speaks in the best interest of livestock farmers, rather than serving party politics or the narrow interests of senior government officials who caused the foot and mouth crisis is being fired, excluded, isolated, and targeted.
To farmers, it came as no surprise when Dr. Danie Odendaal, one of the most respected and experienced veterinarians in Southern Africa, was removed from the ministerial task team on foot and mouth disease by Minister John Steenhuisen.
Dr. Odendaal has a proud track record of speaking truth to power, regardless of the consequences. He has pointed out numerous anomalies and contradictions in government policies and the minister's public statements regarding foot and mouth disease.
He raised concerns when the government undermined the agency agreement between Biogenesis Bago and Design Biologics to capture it for the state, which contradicted Minister Steenhuisen's previous commitments and his later denials of involvement or knowledge of it.
Furthermore, Dr. Odendaal pointed out that the new South African vaccine launched recently, had already been registered in 2022. The state’s failure to manufacture this vaccine earlier could have saved thousands of farming enterprises and hundreds of thousands of cattle. He has revealed that the task team from which he was removed is a farce and a smoke screen, noting that senior officials in the Department of Agriculture ignored the team, failed to attend meetings, and refused to accept its recommendations.
The minister's decision to terminate Dr. Odendaal’s participation "because he refused to sign a confidentiality declaration" brings the integrity of the entire task team and the minister's Industry Council under suspicion. At this junction, it would have been wise for the minister to restore the trust of farmers through transparency and openness to criticism, rather than silencing voices that represent authentic farmer interests because they refuse to conspire under a veil of secrecy.
Dr. Odendaal's fate places significant pressure on every other member of the task team and the Industry Council to take a stand.
While the minister has stumbled from one failure and blunder to another as foot and mouth disease spreads across the country, farmers get more furious.
It is telling that while Dr. Odendaal and several of the minister's political confidants and staff have been fired, not one senior official responsible for safeguarding our foot and mouth free status has faced a disciplinary hearing.
Saai will collect objections to Minister Steenhuisen's termination of Dr. Odendaal and hand them over to government as a show of industry support for those prepared to confront policies and practices that do not make sense to farmers. Letters of objection can be addressed to Saai's official contact channels,
