Van Vuuren, Moritz2013-09-092012-12-142013-09-092012-09-0720122012-12-03Luvhimbi, NB 2012, The role of control at border posts in the Northwest Province in the prevention of transboundry animal disease spread in South Africa, MSc dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-12032012-165321 / >E12/9/171/gmhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/31468Dissertation (MSc (Veterinary Tropical Diseases))--University of Pretoria, 2012.This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of current commercial and non-commercial border control measures in place in the Northwest Province of South Africa with regard to the prevention of the entry of transboundary and other animal diseases that may be introduced by illegal importation of animals and animal products, and to determine whether there is a need to deploy officials from the Dept. of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) at the non-commercial border posts. Interviews were conducted and data collection forms and questionnaires were completed by personnel at five non-commercial border posts that included Makopong, Bray, Makgobistad, Swartkopfontein and Derdepoort. Data was collected from three commercial border posts that included Ramatlabama, Skilpadshek and Kopfontein. Information collected was used to investigate the role of commercial and noncommercial border post control in the Northwest Province on the prevention of transboundary animal diseases in the Republic of South Africa. Following the distribution of 74 questionnaires to the non-commercial border posts, 56 of them were completed and 18 of them were not returned. The response rate was 75.6 %. Eighty two % of respondents felt that the South African Police Services do not have enough human resources to execute the functions of DAFF, and 94 % of the respondents indicated that they did not have formal training related to agriculture. Thirty nine % indicated that they cannot always identify nor categorize agricultural products. Fifty four percent indicated that they are satisfied with information provided by DAFF on how to regulate agricultural products. Ninety two percent indicated that DAFF should deploy permanent officials at the non-commercial border posts. Sixty seven percent indicated that they were not comfortable in carrying out the DAFF mandate. The results of this study revealed that regulated agricultural products are either imported legally or illegally at the non-commercial border posts and are not adequately controlled, whereas importation of animal and animal products through commercial border posts is properly controlled. This study demonstrated the importance of employing full-time DAFF officials at non-commercial border posts. In the event that the latter cannot be implemented, the number of visits by DAFF officials at those border posts should ideally be increased, and the training of SAPS personnel working at noncommercial border posts should be improved for the effective prevention of risks associated with the importation of animals and animal products. Copyrighten© 2012, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of PretoriaUCTDNorthwest provinceAnimal disease spreadSouth AfricaDissertationhttp://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-12032012-165321/