By Thokozani Mazibuko
LaMgabhi Member of Parliament, Sicelo Jele has called upon the Minister of Agriculture to give clear reasons to the House of Assembly as to why livestock removal permits are not issued at Mankayane.
“Why are emaSwati made to suffer at the Mankayane Veterinary offices, we all know that our lives depend on the issuance of these permits as we buy and sell livestock as a source of living,”
the MP queried the Minister during the House of Assembly sitting on Thursday.
Minister of Agriculture, Mandla Tshawuka responded that the officer has been suspended pending disciplinary action.
“We could not allow him to continue working as the situation could have been worse as we no longer trust him. What he does is that he tampers with the machines and the system which could in the long run have dire consequences to the taxpayers and the Government,” the Minister responded.
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The MPs then asked the Minister to treat this matter with a sense of urgency as the people of Mankayane are greatly affected by the non-issuance of livestock removal permits.
The system the veterinary officer is allegedly tampering with in detail;
According to Veterinary Officer who preferred to remain anonymous, it is the most essential and transparent service offered by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Veterinary Department, through the Swaziland Livestock Identification and Traceability System (SLITS).
SLITS is known as a system of livestock identification and traceability integrated within an animal health information system. Its focus is centred on making sure that each individual animal in Eswatini is traceable for life.
According to the officer, in this system, animals are identified using two types of identifiers.
“The first is brand marks and this identifies the animal to the country and a group with the shield as a country mark on the left foreleg and the dip-tank number as a group mark on the left hind leg.
All individual animals are branded as early as six months of age,” he said.
Further, the second identifier, the ear tags, is designed for individual animal identification.
Ear tags are applied by veterinary officials at the dip tank level using approved applicators. Ear tags are applied on both ears of an animal.
The one attached to the left ear is called the primary ear tag (leaflet-like) and the one on the right ear is called the secondary ear tag (button-like).
They all have the same numbers. All individual animals are tagged as early as four weeks.
These identification systems are compulsory for all farmers or kraal owners, and they are guided by the Livestock Identification Act of 2001 as amended together with the SLITS Regulations of 2013.
Moreover, he said that there is a computer system developed to track all the registration of dip tanks, kraals and kraal owners, tagged animals, ear tag management and distribution as well as all animal movement from one dip tank area to another.
Animal health information is also tracked as well as brands. Every farmer should be aware of the benefits of this system which has yielded good results since it was implemented.
“The system has benefited farmers by improving access to livestock markets, assisting in recovering lost and stolen animals,
assisting in reducing stock theft within and across the borders of the country, assisting in disputes over animal ownership among farmers and assisting in production management.
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It has also played a vital role in assisting the government in the containment of diseases during outbreaks as well as improving the efficiency of government-controlled movement permits,” he further said.
Farmers are urged to be part and parcel of the system by contributing positively as they are one of the stakeholders; they should report all cases they come across concerning livestock.
It should be the responsibility of the kraal owner to ensure that all animals in his/her kraal are registered in a stock card with help from veterinary officials.
Farmers should be aware of all conditions written in stock removal permits to avoid confusion. Farmers should be aware of the requirements of veterinary legislation.
Farmers should report all incidences as early as possible to their nearest veterinary office before it causes havoc.
