The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Land Reform, Inge Zaamwani, has announced that the ministry plans to begin vaccinating all animals in the Karasburg area.

Once the ministry has completed an assessment and is confident that the outbreak has been contained, trade will be gradually opened.

Zaamwani revealed this in response to a question by PDM leader McHenry Venaani on when other parts of the country will resume trade on auctions. 

"I'm asking this auction question in light of the fact that, if South Africa has FMD for a number of months but auctions are still being conducted within South Africa, with cattle being moved from one province to another, what is our situation? According to your analysis, farmers depend on these auctions to pay workers, send their children to school, buy feed, and meet other expenses. So, I want to know from you: if the disease is not spreading as rapidly as we thought it would, when are you considering reopening the auctions?"

Zaamwani said testing is taking place on all livestock, including cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs.

Regarding when internal trade will be allowed to resume, Zaamwani stated that the ministry is currently consulting and assessing the situation, with a focus on containing the outbreak at its epicentre.

Some trading has already resumed for cattle that were already in the kraals for auction, while animals that were in quarantine facilities were slaughtered.

"We are also talking to our South African counterparts. They will be meeting with some experts from South Africa on Friday, the 9th, who are coming here. I spoke to my counterpart in South Africa about the possibility of resuming auction trading for the South African market. There are certain protocols that we have to put in place. Today, there was an online meeting between technical officials from the Ministry of Agriculture in South Africa to discuss the procedures and protocols required for us to resume auctions. I think this is the best we can do under the current circumstances."