Small-scale pig farmers in the Mfuleni area, on the Cape Flats, have called for assistance following a devastating African Swine Fever that saw many animals culled. About 240 pigs were killed when the disease broke out last month.
Officials suspect it could have been transmitted from the Eastern Cape, where it had been prevalent from around the Christmas period.
In February, the Western Cape government announced a ban on the sale and movement of pigs in the Mfuleni area to limit the spread of the disease. This is after farmers reported the sudden death of their animals in the previous two weeks.
Pig farmer, Livingstone Thola, whose family has been pig farming for the past 28 years says he has lost 15 animals.
“First time I’ve lost seven, then every day there’s two dead, altogether was 15. We just don’t know what to do now because they told us we must close for three months. So, we are not working. We are going to stay at home now with nothing. Other farmers have lost about 200 pigs, so it’s bad. They closed. They don’t even come here anymore because the department and SPCA killed all their pigs.”
Thola says they have not received any compensation yet from the government although promises were made.
Chief State Veterinarian, Gary Buhrmann says they are still assessing the situation whether to cull more pigs.
“We will be assessing the situation next week to decide whether to continue culling or not because the disease seems to be spreading but quite slowly. So, we will do an assessment. So, those animals that have been culled, because we have not been able to bury them in the area because of environmental issues. We have actually created a new system, which is a bio chamber, where they get composted after a period of about 8 to 12 weeks, and it’s the first time it is being used in South Africa for composting pigs.”
The government says it is still processing compensation for the affected farmers. They say it is the first time there’s an outbreak of African swine fever in the province.
