Farmers demand action as foot-and-mouth disease outbreak continues to spread, threatening livestock economy and food security.
Concern among farmers continues to grow after Karan Beef has confirmed the second case of foot-and-mouth Disease at its Heidelberg feedlot this year.
Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen said he will on Monday address the latest infection.
“New vaccines are arriving and we are co-timing with the plan to vaccinate in infected areas,” he said.
Second case of foot-and-mouth disease confirmed at Karan Beef feedlot
Karan Beef spokesperson Anso Bracken confirmed their feedlot had been affected a second time.
Bracken described the outbreak as a crisis unlike anything they have experienced, which demanded their full attention and resources.
“Our priority has been managing the operational realities and containment measures of the outbreak.”
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TLU SA’s Bennie van Zyl said farmers were concerned about the disease popping up every now and again.
The current approach by the department wasn’t working, he said, adding privatisation in all respects should be the approach.
Southern Africa Agricultural Initiative (Saai) CEO Francois Rossouw said the outbreak at the Karan feedlot once again shows this crisis is not being treated with the urgency it demands.
Crisis not being treated with urgency – Saai
“This is not a localised problem. It’s a national crisis that threatens the entire livestock economy, export markets and food security.”
Rossouw said they have, for years, warned that the state’s failure to ensure a stable vaccine supply through Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) “would come back to haunt us”.
“OBP’s dismal annual performance report, its repeated audit failures, and the minister’s continued inaction has left SA dangerously exposed. We now face the same outbreak patterns as before – but this time with even less capacity to respond.” Rossouw said the vaccination strategy is collapsing.
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“Farmers are desperate for vaccines that either arrive too late or not at all, while the state continues to issue press releases, instead of taking decisive action.
“Every day that government drags its feet, the virus spreads further and the economic fallout grows,” he said.
Black Farmers Association of South Africa president Lennox Mtshagi said the ongoing crisis is not only a veterinary emergency, but also a national agricultural disaster.
National agricultural disaster
“Since the first major outbreak in 2021, this disease has continued to cripple the livestock industry, threatening food security, exports and, most critically, the livelihoods of emerging black farmers who are driving transformation in agriculture.
“We demand urgent, coordinated and transparent action from all relevant authorities to bring this crisis under control,” he said.
