SA farmers demand the right to privately vaccinate against Foot and Mouth Disease

As the threat of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) continues to weigh on South Africa’s livestock sector, Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has called for unity, warning that legal action could undermine efforts to contain the outbreak.

The call follows confirmation that business organisation Sakeliga and the Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai), together with Free State Agriculture, have sent letters of demand to the Department of Agriculture, seeking permission for farmers to privately procure and administer FMD vaccines.

The groups have warned that failure to comply could result in court action.

Sakeliga on Tuesday said the organisations had formally requested written confirmation that livestock owners and the private sector may vaccinate their animals according to their own risk-management decisions, without being blocked by what it described as State “gatekeeping and red tape”.

“Our letter of demand requires the Minister, the Department, and the Chief Director of Veterinary Services to provide written confirmation that livestock owners and the private sector generally may procure and administer FMD vaccines according to their own risk management considerations without being blocked by state gatekeeping and red tape,” it said.

“We have given the Minister and his colleagues until Friday 30 January 2026 by close of business to confirm whether they agree or not.”

Steenhuisen warned that the threatened legal action risks challenging the very legislative framework that enables the state to protect the national herd. FMD is a controlled animal disease governed strictly by the Animal Diseases Act, 1984 (Act No. 35 of 1984).

Steenhuisen said the department was obliged to follow the law in this regard.

"Litigation, in the midst of a serious outbreak, now seeks to challenge the very legislative framework and obligations required by the State to protect the national herd," he said.

"While anybody is free to approach the courts at any time, this legal venture is most unfortunate as it seeks to attack the Act under which the State is about to procure vaccines and roll out the FMD plan.”

The deparment added that the national FMD response plan was developed by a ministerial task team comprising public- and private-sector scientists, veterinarians and academics, and was announced by Steenhuisen two weeks ago.

The plan includes clear short-, medium- and long-term timelines and marks the first comprehensive national roadmap to combat FMD in three decades.

According to the department, the State has already procured and administered two million doses of FMD vaccine from the Botswana Vaccine Institute. However, it warned that ongoing legal action could delay further vaccine procurement and rollout while the matter is before the courts.

The department rejected calls for unrestricted private vaccination, describing them as reckless and contrary to established international and local disease-control practices.

Steenhuisen urged farmers to be cautious of lobby groups making promises during a time of crisis, warning that such actions could derail scientifically driven efforts to eradicate FMD.

“These actions threaten a scientific framework designed to ensure the country wins the war against FMD once and for all. Now is not the time for distraction: what we need now is a united and full focus on dealing with the current crisis,” he said.

Saai chief executive Francois Rossouw said the minister’s reaction had “shocked the farming fraternity to the core” and accused the department of failing to grasp the scale of the crisis.

Rossouw rejected claims that Saai, Sakeliga and Free State Agriculture were acting out of self-interest, saying the organisations were representing farmers severely affected by the state’s failure to fulfil its responsibilities.

He argued that the dispute was not about challenging the Animal Diseases Act, but rather about outdated regulations drafted when South Africa was still FMD-free.

“The minister doesn't even understand the impact of his announcement two months ago that the national herd will now preemptively be vaccinated. He doesn't understand that it is healthy animals which will now be vaccinated and not sick ones, like in a situation which the regulations were designed for," Rossouw said.

"If he had asked any of our farmers' organizations to redraft the regulations to suit the new paradigm of blanket vaccination of the national herd, it would've been done within 24 hours. But two months on, there has been no indication that anyone in his department is actually working on changing the regulations.”

Rossouw said the department was underestimating the depth of the crisis while overestimating farmers’ patience, warning that the outbreak could have been prevented with more effective state capacity.

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