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The DA in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) remains deeply concerned by the continued failure of Premier, Thami Ntuli and Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) MEC, Thembeni KaMadlopha-Mthethwa to decisively respond to the escalating Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak within the province, by declaring a provincial state of disaster.

Despite repeated warnings, oversight findings and clear epidemiological evidence, they have ignored sustained calls to act swiftly and declare a provincial state of disaster, allowing the crisis to deepen.

Our farms and rural communities need the resources and support that a provincial disaster declaration would unlock, and they cannot wait.

As a committed partner within KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU), the DA raises this matter in the interests of accountability and effective governance. However, partnership cannot be a substitute for leadership, particularly when livelihoods and food security are under direct threat.

DA oversight inspections across the province have consistently revealed free-roaming cattle, weak enforcement of movement controls and widespread clinical signs of FMD, including lameness and excessive salivation. These conditions point to systemic failures in containment and biosecurity, particularly in communal farming areas.

KZN DARD’s own data confirms the gravity of the situation. By end January 2026, 905 farms and dip tanks had been tested, with 195 farms testing positive from 17 819 samples. High infection rates are recorded in Uthukela, Amajuba, uMgungundlovu, Zululand and Umzinyathi, while official surveillance maps show that FMD has become a province-wide outbreak.

The ongoing refusal to declare a provincial state of disaster has constrained access to emergency funding, overstretched state veterinary services and left KZN’s farmers without adequate and coordinated support.

The DA again calls on the Premier and the MEC to abandon their current inertia, act on the evidence before them and immediately declare a provincial state of disaster in order to contain the outbreak and prevent further economic and social harm.

Issued by Sakhile Mngadi, MPL - DA KZN Spokesperson on Agriculture and Rural Development