The National Wool Growers’ Association of SA (NWGA) invited the Director General (DG) of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), Mr Mooketsa Ramasodi, to its National Congress which took place from 1-2 June 2022 in Port Elizabeth.
Mr Ramasodi was accompanied by the Chief Director of Animal Production and Health, Dr Mike Modisane. The congress brings together all the provincial leader wool sheep producers from the commercial, communal- and emerging sectors, delegates from the Lesotho Wool Growers Association, as well as other stakeholders in the Wool Industry. This is the first time since Minister Senzeni Zokwana attended the congress in 2015, that a high-ranking official has attended an NWGA National Congress. Mr Ramasodi hailed agriculture as the backbone of South Africa, which showed a growth of 13,4% in 2020 and 8.3% in 2021, and acknowledged the good work done in the Wool Industry to uplift communal and emerging wool producers. After the congress the DG met with various industry role-players, e.g., representatives from NWGA, Wool Brokers, Wool Buyers, and Cape Wools SA.
He also visited a wool broker store which is registered for the export of wool to China, where he familiarized himself with the protocols that were put in place in 2019 as was required for export certification due to Foot[1]and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks. This was done in view of the recent ban on the exporting of wool to China. According to the NWGA General Manager, Mr Leon de Beer, various industry challenges were discussed with the DG. These challenges include the export ban of South African wool to China (more than 80% of our wool was exported to China in 2020/21), the challenge related to the non-issuing of work permits for shearers from Lesotho and the re[1]establishment of the very successful Genetic Improvement Programme for communal producers.
Biosecurity, including the non-availability of certain vaccines produced by Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) were also highlighted as a serious threat to the industry De Beer said that industry is satisfied that the DG is now well-informed of these challenges, and that he confirmed that the Minister of Agriculture had to present a comprehensive plan to Cabinet on how to deal, not only with FMD, but with all the current animal health issues in South Africa. A Biosecurity Task Team was appointed, and a report is to be released and implemented in totality, very soon. The South African Government is using the following building blocks to resolve the current issues with China: 1) In 2019, a system was put in place to include storage facilities and a certification process. 2) Current FMD outbreaks did not appear in the major wool producing districts of SA 3) There have been no incidences of FMD reported involving small stock The intention of Government is to take negotiations and communication to a political level in China, indicating to their relevant authorities, the issues at hand. Regarding the Genetic Improvement Program, the DG said that “statistics do not lie”.
He commented on the presentation by the NWGA General Manager, Leon de Beer, during the Congress and confirmed the success of the programme, especially when one considers the socio-economic parameters of the impact thereof. The DALRRD will discuss a way forward to re-establish this successful initiative.
