By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has welcomed the decision by new agriculture minister John Steenhuisen to investigate the missing R500 million at Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP).
OBP is a state-owned animal vaccine manufacturing entity whose primary mandate is to manufacture animal vaccines.
Steenhuisen has announced that he will institute a forensic audit following the uncovering of unspent and irregular spending of funds.
He said the investigation has directly led to “the fact that certain vaccines and stocks have not been available”. “In 2014, R500 million was given to OBP to build a new vaccine plant compliant with national and international regulatory requirements.”
The facility was clearly never built and this has led to chronic shortages of vaccines in the last few years. The capacity at OBP to produce vaccines has been on a serious decline.
In a statement the party said, “The DA stands with members of the agricultural community in raising our total dissatisfaction with OBP not fulfilling its mandate, which in turn leaves our country with a huge shortage of much needed vaccines.
“During a meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture held at the end of July, OBP portrayed a picture that everything was in order, however, on Tuesday the Auditor General (AG) addressed the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and revealed that there was a large portion of a grant given to OBP in 2013 that was unspent and unaccounted for.
“Upon receiving this information, the party wants the OBP to reappear before the portfolio committee to account for the false assurances that they provided to the committee in July, read the statement.”
The AG furthermore highlighted that OBP is “not doing the basics” right when it comes to auditing standards.
The DA added that it is clear that something untoward is going on at OBP, and this investigation into OBP is therefore welcomed. This development is a crucial step toward restoring integrity and accountability within the sector. It confirms the DA’s commitment to root out corruption and poor management as well as our commitment to advocate for transparent and accountable governance.”
Agriorbit reported in July that South African horse owners are once again entering African horse sickness (AHS) season with a shortage of vaccines according to role players in the industry. Waiting lists at animal hospitals and equestrians unable to compete due to the lack of vaccines are slowly becoming the new norm as Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) struggles to meet the demand.
Glynn Catton, an industrial veterinary consultant and owner of Stride Distributors says there is a “major dilemma” concerning the lack of AHS vaccines in South Africa. According to Catton, Namibia did not receive vaccines last season and subsequently cannot compete in equestrian sport in South Africa.
Dr Sheelagh Higgerty, from the South African Equestrian Federation and national head veterinarian for the International Federation for Equestrian Sports, confirms that unvaccinated horses cannot compete. She says that despite the vaccine scarcity, equestrian events in South Africa are proceeding normally this season as there is no ‘epidemic of deaths’. Event cancellations depend on localised outbreaks.