Latest news with #R1.2b
The Citizen
01-06-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Government gains momentum in tackling foot and mouth disease
Intensified efforts to control and eradicate foot and mouth disease (FMD) are paying off. This is according to Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, who, in a statement on Wednesday, said the process of procuring vaccines through Onderstepoort Biological Products has started, and the next batch of vaccines is expected to be delivered by mid-June. The disease management areas (DMAs) in the two provinces are soon to be lifted, and an urgent order has been placed for much-needed vaccines valued at R72m. 'This marks a crucial step forward in the department's vaccination strategy. The department has provisionally costed the vaccine requirements for the 2025/2026 financial year at R1.2b, with each vaccine estimated at R100 per dose,' Steenhuisen said. Recognising the seriousness of the FMD threat, the minister said he escalated control efforts to the deputy director-general (DGG) for agricultural production, biosecurity and natural resources management, Dipepeneneng Serage, earlier this month. 'The office of the DDG has already engaged with veterinary services and various industry representatives to detail the actions required to curb the threat.' The minister highlighted that the lifting of the current DMAs in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo is imminent. In the Eastern Cape, disease management areas covering the Kouga and Kou-Kamma Municipalities have been in place since July 26, 2024. Through a robust vaccination campaign, 144 424 vaccinations were successfully administered, and the last confirmed FMD case was reported in September 2024. He added that extensive serological surveillance has found no further signs of infection. Steenhuisen confirmed that the movement restrictions in the Eastern Cape DMA will be lifted soon. Similar success has been reported in the Vhembe District in Limpopo, where a DMA was declared in September 2022 to control an FMD outbreak in dip tanks in the Vhembe Municipality. Two rounds of vaccination saw 23 024 vaccinations administered to cattle across 34 dip tanks, proving highly effective in bringing the outbreak under control. 'These positive developments highlight the effectiveness of our collaborative control measures, and the dedication of all stakeholders involved. The department remains vigilant and committed to implementing proactive strategies to safeguard animal health and the agricultural sector,' said the minister. KZN The minister reported that the DMA in KZN remains in place, since there are still signs of active virus circulation in the area. He said some outbreaks that were detected outside of the DMA were successfully contained with no sign of outward spread of the disease. 'An abattoir in the Vryheid area in the DMA is in the process of being designated to slaughter animals from premises under FMD restrictions. A system has been put in place to assess the level of biosecurity on individual farms, with the intention of aligning the control measures to the biosecurity risks,' the minister explained. Mpumalanga Meanwhile, the minister said a single outbreak was reported on a single farm in the Gert Sibande Municipality in Mpumalanga, in April, which was identified as a trace forward from an auction in KZN. 'Following one round of targeted surveillance of surrounding farms, there are no signs that this outbreak spread to any adjacent farms or other linked locations. The department has started with the second round of surveillance,' the minister said. Gauteng In addition, in Gauteng, new FMD cases have been confirmed in the West Rand and East Rand. The minister noted that an outbreak at a feedlot and adjacent farm were found to be positive in the West Rand Municipality. Initially, the outbreak was linked to an auction in Heidelberg, however follow-up epidemiological investigation indicated a different infection source. 'Veterinary services are testing adjacent premises and linked locations to determine the origin of this outbreak and possible spread.' Additional cases were detected in communal cattle in the East Rand in May. Samples were collected and FMD infection was confirmed. Epidemiological investigations have commenced to identify and test all adjacent and linked locations. Suspension of beef imports The minister announced that the People's Republic of China has suspended imports of cloven-hoofed animals and related products from South Africa due to the spread of the outbreaks in KZN to Mpumalanga and Gauteng. 'Preliminary information obtained confirmed that this suspension includes only beef from South Africa to China. The good news is that the export of wool that complies with the protocol already agreed to has not been affected,' the minister said. He has also urged livestock owners and traders to take note of the incubation period of FMD. He reminded farmers that FMD has an incubation period of up to 14 days, during which animals can appear clinically healthy, before they start showing clinical signs generally associated with FMD. 'It is crucial that newly bought animals are kept separate from the resident herd for at least 28 days, even if a health attestation was issued for the animals. The health attestation and 28-day separation have been a legal requirement since October 2022.' Biosecurity Minister Steenhuisen emphasised the importance of national co-operation in halting the spread of FMD. 'Biosecurity is everybody's responsibility. The department urges all livestock farmers in the country to limit animal movement as far as possible. 'Auctioneers and livestock owners should be vigilant when buying cloven-hoofed animals from provinces in which there are active FMD outbreaks. No cloven-hoofed animals should be accepted from areas under restriction for FMD,' said the minister. – Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pleasing Signs As A Number Of Insiders Buy Blue Label Telecoms Stock
Usually, when one insider buys stock, it might not be a monumental event. But when multiple insiders are buying like they did in the case of Blue Label Telecoms Limited (JSE:BLU), that sends out a positive message to the company's shareholders. Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares. Check out our latest analysis for Blue Label Telecoms The Co-Founder Mark Levy made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for R3.0m worth of shares at a price of R5.25 each. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of R6.63. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price. Blue Label Telecoms insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction! There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of undervalued small cap companies that insiders are buying. Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Blue Label Telecoms insiders own about R1.2b worth of shares. That equates to 21% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders. It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Blue Label Telecoms shares in the last quarter. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. With high insider ownership and encouraging transactions, it seems like Blue Label Telecoms insiders think the business has merit. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Blue Label Telecoms you should know about. Of course Blue Label Telecoms may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
