02 Aug 2017

Assistant Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse says it is not viable to upgrade the brand certificate to include ear marking because ear marking does not provide for the individual identification of animals which is an important requirement for animal traceability, but rather that it identifies a clan.

Mr Autlwetse further said it would be difficult to standardise and regulate ear marking as it was applied along tribal lines with different areas having their own ways of marking ears. He further said ear marking was an animal welfare concern, and that in future the practice may have to be abandoned considering the increasingly sensitive consumer, including important trading partners.

The Member of Parliament for Takatokwane, Mr Ngaka Ngaka had asked the minister if it was not viable to upgrade the brand certificate to include the ear marking on livestock to make it official. ENDS