Don't let FMD outbreak drag on

The Monitor Editor | Wednesday May 6, 2026 06:00

Acting Agriculture Minister, Edwin Dikoloti, is right in saying opening an export-ready facility whilst Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is still spreading would risk getting the whole country blacklisted before a single carcass leaves the door.

A ban like that would break the already stressed nation. So, the postponement, painful as it is, is the right thing to do. The local economy is being squeezed from both ends. FMD has already slammed the door on beef exports to Europe and silenced the Lobatse abattoir.

At the same time, diamonds which are the main foreign exchange earner, are not selling nearly as well as we need them to. That means less funds for clinics, classrooms and roads.

We cannot let this outbreak drag on. Every cattle owner, every village, every citizen has something to lose if it persists.

The government is not sitting on its hands. Almost P97 million has been put into vaccination and monitoring exercises. In the Good Hope area, more than 95% of cattle have already been jabbed.

Movement restrictions have been eased a little so that animals can go for licensed slaughter in safer zones, but infected areas remain tightly locked down.

These relaxed rules are not a licence for stakeholders to do as they please. They are a test of our discipline and resolve. One animal moved carelessly, one skin hidden in a boot, and the virus can jump kilometres in a day.

That is why we must all be ready to speak up. Reporting a neighbour who breaks the rules is uncomfortable. Nobody wants to be seen as a police officer in their own community. But think of it this way.

The farmer who slips cattle out of a controlled zone for a wedding is not just bending a rule, he is putting every other farmer’s herd at risk.

He is pushing the day when Tsabong finally opens further away, and he is chipping at the livelihoods of families who depend on cattle to pay school fees. Blowing the whistle is not disloyalty. It is what protecting a shared future looks like.

The government has to move faster. The plans are drawn, the money is there. Now we need boots on the ground. We call on increased patrols along cordon fences. Speed up the booster vaccination rounds. Make sure every farmer can get clear, simple information about what is permitted and what is not.

The quicker this outbreak is boxed in, the quicker we can fire up the abattoirs, get beef moving again, and bring back the export earnings that so many communities depend on.