Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has removed Dr Danie Odendaal from the ministerial task team on controlled diseases, citing his refusal to sign a confidentiality declaration. The move has sparked controversy within South Africa’s livestock industry as the country grapples with a devastating foot-and-mouth disease outbreak.
In a letter dated 10 February, Steenhuisen informed Odendaal that his membership was “hereby terminated and rescinded with immediate effect” after he failed to sign an impartiality and confidentiality declaration required of all task team members.
The declaration governs the conduct expected of members and requires them to refrain from activities that may compromise their integrity or create conflicts with their roles and responsibilities on the task team.
However, industry stakeholders have criticised the termination as a petty reason to remove one of Southern Africa’s most respected and experienced veterinarians during a critical crisis affecting the meat industry.
According to a statement from agricultural organisation Saai, Odendaal had raised numerous concerns about government policy and inconsistencies in the minister’s public statements regarding foot-and-mouth disease.
Odendaal reportedly expressed concern when the government undermined an agency agreement between Biogenesis Bago and Design Biologics to appropriate it for the state, which contradicted Steenhuisen’s previous commitments and his later denials of involvement or knowledge thereof.
The veterinarian also pointed out that a new South African vaccine recently introduced was already registered in 2022. The state’s failure to manufacture or have this vaccine manufactured earlier could have saved thousands of farming operations and hundreds of thousands of cattle, according to Odendaal’s observations.
He further revealed that the task team from which he was removed was a farce and a smokescreen, noting that senior officials in the Department of Agriculture ignored the team, failed to attend meetings and refused to accept its recommendations.
Saai stated that the minister’s decision to terminate Odendaal’s participation “because he refused to sign a confidentiality statement” brings the integrity of the entire task team and the minister’s industry council under suspicion.
The organisation argued it would have been wise for the minister to regain farmers’ trust through transparency and openness to criticism, rather than silencing voices that represent authentic farming interests because they refuse to conspire under a veil of secrecy.
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Saai warned that Odendaal’s fate places considerable pressure on every other member of the task team and industry council to take a clear position. If they properly represent the livestock industry, there is nothing Odendaal did or said that could not land each of them in trouble as well.
As the minister stumbles from one failure and blunder to another while foot-and-mouth disease spreads across the country, farmers are becoming increasingly angry, according to Saai.
The organisation noted that while Odendaal and several of the minister’s colleagues in his political party, as well as office staff, have been dismissed, not one senior official responsible for protecting South Africa’s foot-and-mouth disease-free status has been subjected to a disciplinary hearing.
Saai said it will collect objections against Steenhuisen’s dismissal of Odendaal from his task team and submit them to the government as a sign of support from the industry for those willing to confront policies and practices that do not make sense to farmers.
The foot-and-mouth crisis has crippled South Africa’s meat industry, with significant economic consequences for farming operations across the country.
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