FMD-hit farmers demand access to Tati land
Larona Makhaiza - Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday February 16, 2026 16:29
For farmers in Zone 6B, the ongoing Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak is not just veterinary crises. It is an economic and emotional blow that continues to shape their daily reality.
With cattle movement still tightly regulated and grazing space shrinking, farmers from Jackalas 1 are now appealing for government to hurry up and allocate them a portion of the 45,000 hectares the State purchased from the Tati Company.
That land, they say, would provide them more cover in the event of another outbreak.
Under the previous regime, government purchased the enormous land back from Tati Land Company at a tune of P1.4 billion set to be paid over two financial years.
Three years later since the purchase agreement, the land still sits idle with no plans for its allocation.
As recently as two weeks ago, in a kgotla meeting with the community in the affected area, acting Lands and Agriculture minister, Edwin Dikoloti, said government is still finalising plans for how the land will be allocated and used.
Now the farmers in the area argue that controlled grazing zones, such within the Tati Farms area, are critical in preventing the rapid the spread of FMD. By relocating their cattle to one central, monitored area far away from the borderline, they can reduce the cross-border movements, illegal grazing and uncontrolled cattle mixing that breed frequent FMD outbreaks.
At Mmegi newscrew that was in Jackalas No 1 this week, observed that the border fence between Zimbabwe and Botswana is dilapidated as cars can easily pass through there as Zimbabwean nationals cross into Botswana to buy groceries.
Speaking on behalf of farmers, Dignity Mthombeni, chairman of the farmers association in Zone 6B, said the current grazing system leaves them vulnerable. The farmers’ pains are worsened by the fact that the restocking from the August 2022 outbreak had only just finished in the area when the new outbreak emerged. According to some reports, the last beast delivered under the restocking was delivered in October, while veterinary officials suspect the latest FMD could have entered the country around Christmas.
“Last year we were restocked with only 534 cattle and these were really good breeds that were given to us. “But now because of FMD we are likely to lose them because our border fence has been destroyed. People and cattle roam free,” Mthombeni noted with concern.
Mthombeni said the destroyed fence poses a grim picture as just when their lives were about to improve over the restocking, FMD has taken them ten steps back.
“We are deeply affected by this outbreak more so that today there is no slaughter allowed of cattle, goats and sheep due to this disease across the country. “Its painful because this disease was caught in Jackals but it has affected the whole country,” Mthombeni said.
Mthombeni said the outbreak could have been prevented if the fences were erected and maintained to control the movement of both hooved animals and people He appealed to the government to capacitate farmers with resources.
“Our fence is destroyed at the borderline. “People can just come and go. So we want government to give us graders to fix the fence and we have even volunteered ourselves to do so ourselves,” he said,
For the farmers association chair, there’s a sequence to the solution. Firstly, the fence needs to be repaired and fortified. Then current outbreak needs to be controlled.
Finally, farmers need access to the Tati farms area, where the future of their livestock will be safer.
“We want government to grant us access to the purchased 45,000 hectares land as we believe it can really help us in controlling the outbreak of FMD in future,” Mthombeni said.
Councillor Morapedi Mafohla of Jackalas 1 and Ramokgwebana, said granting the farmers access to Tati land could do great good in the fight against FMD in the long run.
“We did talk about the 45,000ha land when Vice President Ndaba Gaolathe was here and farmers did say that they want to use the land to closely monitor their cattle there. “I believe that it could be a good solution to the frequent outbreak of FMD,” he said.
However, Mafohla said government is not yet ready to open up the Tati land for use as proper planning needs to be undertaken for the land.
“VP mentioned that they are still assessing the land and once they are done with the assessment, government will then decide what to do with the land,” he said.
While government is still entangled in coming with assessment for the Tati land, Mafohla has called on government to at least erect buffer zones, which can ameliorate the situation.
“Community members are asking that since most of them do not own land and their cattle are always taken during outbreaks, they are asking that government establish buffer zones to at least grow crops and control the movement of cattle within 10 kilometres of border line,” Mafohla said.
For his part, Additionally, Jackalas emphasised that despite previous requests to allocate the Tati land for farming purposes, there is a pressing need for a comprehensive plan.
'We need to know where the grazing land will be,' Jackalas stated.
Jackalas 1 village chief, Tapson Jackalas revealed that the North East leadership had recently met on the matter and was awaiting further planning and clarification on allocation in Tati farms
As the FMD threat lingers, Zone 6B farmers say access to the Tati land could be the difference between recovery and collapse. For them, the land is not just soil, it is survival.