The Sunday News
Mhlupheki Dube
THE report that Botswana has killed and burnt more than 600 cattle from Zimbabwe, particularly in areas bordering the national boundary between the two countries, is totally disappointing and devastating.
The animals were shot under the “shoot to kill” policy of Botswana that kill and destroy stray animals from the neighbouring Zimbabwe as a means of controlling the foot and mouth disease. Botswana supplies beef to the European Union markets and the market demands very stringent bio-safety measures from its suppliers and any violation of these phytosanitary conditions can result in the cancellation of the quota that is allocated to Botswana.
This is a business mishap which Botswana is not ready to incur and it is important to remind ourselves that Zimbabwe lost its quota to supply the same markets when it began failing to observe the bio-safety conditions important for the control of foot and mouth disease.
I say the action by Botswana authorities was not unexpected because it was announced that this is the drastic measure they are going to be instituting to protect their market. This was a while ago and I discussed this matter on this very platform. It is,however, disappointing when it is implemented and farmers are caught off guard. This tells me that the farmers were not aware of this new policy direction from their neighbour and they went about their business in the usual manner and they are counting the losses.
The question is did our Government departments such as extension services and the local authority share this new shoot to kill policy with their farmers, especially for communities along the border such as Nswazwi, Bambadzi, Madabe, Ngwanyana, Mphoengs just to mention a few. It should be remembered that these communities have relations across the national boundaries and they have always lived in a certain manner which involved easy trans-boundary movements and hence strong communication to warn them of the impending calamity that may befall their livestock was necessary.
I am very positive that no farmer would let their animal stray into Botswana if they knew that they will be killed. Again, I ask, did those who have the responsibility to inform the farmers do their part? It is important to note that there is not much that Zimbabwe can do on the Botswana side of things as it is a sovereign nation.
However, we can do a lot on our side of things to conscientise farmers of this development so that they do not lose their animals unnecessarily. Like Bulilima West MP Dingumuzi Phuti was quote d saying, this is a portion of our national livestock herd which deserves protection from everyone concerned. It is also a major livelihood source for our communities which cannot just be left to waste away like that. More information dissemination to the affected communities is needed and also for mending boundary fences where they are broken so as to prevent animals crossing into our neighbour’s territory.
I know that the issue of the boundary fences is a hot one as our communities are at times involved in cutting down the fences to facilitate illegal entry and exit of goods. My call remains the same that lets empower our communities through sharing such critical information through our channels such as councillors and extension workers.
Let there be community meetings held solely for sharing such information and that way we may help protect our national herd.
It does not help anyone to wait for disaster to strike and we start throwing brick bats to our neighbour who warned us a long time ago that she is going to adopt a tough stance against boundary violations.
Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo.
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