Irate Tonota residents walk out on Molebatsi

Barati Mathambo
Correspondent | Friday May 17, 2013 00:00

Kgotla was left in chaos as the residents caused a hullabaloo that completely drowned out Molebatsi's voice as he tried to address them. This week, the ministry addressed Kgotla meetings in various areas in Zone 6 affected by the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

The Ministry of Agriculture, (MoA) recently took the decision to kill up to 30,000 small livestock in the zone, and the decision has been met with anger by the affected farmers.One of the people who walked out said he was angered by Molebatsi's announcement, adding that they excepted to be informed on restocking of their cattle that were killed in 2000 because of FMD. He said he was disappointed to hear the minister speaking only of more killing of their livestock, even before they are compensated for what happened in 2000. 'We were expecting more out of this Kgotla meeting. This is not the issue they should be focusing on,' he said.

Addressing the Kgotla, one of the farmers,  Onkabetse Fly said the ministry is failing in its duty to farmers. He queried:'If they are now going to kill goats and sheep, how are they going to compensate us if we did not get compensated for our cattle killed in 2011? One thing that is causing concern is that we are being told that only goats at Ditladi (a settlement near Tonota) will be affected but what about our goats in Tonota?' he asked.

Further, he said goats in Ditladi and those in Tonota drink water from Shashe Dam, but he has never seen veterinary officers in Tonota checking whether their goats were at risk of FMD.Khutsafalo Mogorosi said the MoA should re-think its decision to exclude Tonota. 'If Tonota is going to be excluded what if there is another outbreak that will require MoA to come back and kill them?' he asked.

He related how he once had an encounter with officials from the DVS when his goats had blisters on their hooves, but he was told that they were not symptoms of FMD. 'I pleaded with them to kill them but they refused to come and check on them. As for the fence that is between Tonota and Ditladi, it is not a guarantee that goats in Tonota will not be affected,' he said.

Tlhabologo Mbulawa said the government is only focused on the symptoms not the problem.'If they are going to be killing goats and sheep what about wild animals such as wildebeests that have separated hooves?' he asked.He also suspected the veterinary officers of spreading the disease because of their travelling all over the country in their bid to diagnose and eradicate the disease.