KZN GPU clash: DA criticises Premier Ntuli on handling of KZN Foot-and-Mouth outbreaks
The DA has criticised the KZN provincial government over its handling of the critical Foot-and-Mouth Disease outbreaks in the province.
Image: Supplied
A political storm is brewing within KwaZulu-Natal’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) as the Democratic Alliance (DA) took aim at Premier Thami Ntuli over the provincial government's handling of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak.
The public spat was ignited after DA MPL and KZN spokesperson on Agriculture, Sakhile Mngadi condemned Premier Thami Ntuli for what he termed a “continued refusal” to declare a Provincial State of Disaster.
Mngadi argued that the Premier’s “inaction” is costing farmers their livelihoods while the disease “spirals out of control”.
In response to Mngadi, the Premier’s Office said in a statement that since the president has declared all affected provinces disaster areas, there was no reason for provincial governments to do the same.
“The premier is treating the outbreak of FMD with utmost seriousness and has formally requested that it be declared a provincial disaster. It is this decisive intervention that prompted the national executive, under the leadership of His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa, to classify the disease outbreak as a national disaster.
“The classification was formally announced during the State of the Nation Address on 12 February 2026,” read the statement.
Furthermore, the Premier's Office said that a separate provincial declaration is neither legally permissible nor practically necessary.
“In terms of the Disaster Management Act, a premier may declare a provincial state of disaster only where an event has been classified as a provincial disaster. Once the National Disaster Management Centre classifies an event as a national disaster, as is the case with FMD, primary responsibility for coordination shifts to the national sphere of government.
The KZN Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) also dismissed Mngadi’s claims as “attention-seeking utterances”.
Mngadi had argued that only a provincial declaration can unlock the emergency procurement mechanisms needed for:
- The urgent procurement and direct delivery of vaccines to farmers.
- The visible deployment of SAPS and SANDF units to enforce biosecurity.
- A strict ban on animal movements across the province.
“The Premier’s inaction is not only irresponsible; it is an insult to partners within KZN’s GPU,” Mngadi stated, adding that the province relies on “questionable data” that downplays the scale of the crisis.
The KZN Agriculture department said that neither the Premier nor the MEC has the legal authority to unilaterally declare a state of disaster. According to the department, Section 23 of the Disaster Management Act of 2002 empowers the Head of the National Disaster Management Centre, under the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), to classify disasters.
"It would have been better for [Mngadi] to have conducted basic Google research... neither the Premier nor the MEC has the authority to declare a state of disaster," the department stated.
KZN is currently considered the epicentre of the FMD outbreak in South Africa. Recent reports indicate:
- Total Cattle Population: Approximately 2.5 million.
- Confirmed Cases: Over 200 outbreaks, with the majority still unresolved.
- Impact: Affected areas include dairy farms, feedlots, and both communal and commercial sectors across all districts.
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