Organised agriculture has cautiously welcomed Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen’s 10-year phased plan to combat foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which continues to cripple the beef and dairy industries in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Farmers have been battling the disease for more than a year. Restrictions on the movement of cattle, imposed to curb its spread, have halted auctions and dealt a severe blow to the rural economy. Dairy farmers have been particularly hard hit, as FMD directly affects milk production.

Mass vaccination strategy outlined

Steenhuisen’s plan begins with immediate mass vaccination in hotspot provinces. The target is to vaccinate 90% of South Africa’s commercial cattle, 80% of communal cattle, and 100% of feedlot and dairy cattle within 12 months.

Vaccines will be imported from Argentina, Botswana and Türkiye, supplemented by local production at the State-owned Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP). OBP is expected to produce 20 000 doses a week from March, with capacity set to increase towards a target of 960 000 doses.

South Africa is also expected to receive five million imported vaccine doses by March. The department has applied to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority to authorise the importation and registration of the Biogenesis vaccine.

More than two million cattle have been vaccinated since the current outbreak began in 2022. Despite this, the livestock industry has suffered an estimated R5.6 billion in export losses since the start of 2025.

Steenhuisen said a memorandum would soon be submitted to Cabinet to declare FMD a National State of Disaster, allowing government to rapidly deploy resources, strengthen movement controls and fast-track regulations.

Private sector capacity is underused

TLU SA general manager Bennie van Zyl said the plan looked sound on paper, but implementation remained a concern.

“We are no longer controlling the disease – we are managing a crisis that is out of control,” Van Zyl said, warning that the scale and speed of the outbreak threaten farmers’ incomes, food security and South Africa’s international market access.

TLU SA criticised the State’s failure to implement its own strategy effectively, arguing that private vaccine production capacity exists but is blocked by regulations. The organisation called for the immediate release of already developed ARC vaccines at fair prices and for supervised farmer vaccination to be allowed.

Rising meat prices are now beginning to affect consumers, increasing food security concerns.

Dairy sector hardest hit

Dundee dairy farmer Peter Durham described the situation as dire, saying one of his dairies recorded 67 new cases of mastitis in a single day after being hit by FMD earlier this year.

“We are being hammered. The same dairy has been infected again, and it is far worse than the first time. We cannot even get a vaccine,” he said.

Durham warned that vaccines offering immunity for only three to four months are unworkable. “Unless we get access to six- or preferably 12-month vaccines immediately, this disease will become endemic – and affordable milk, beef and pork will disappear.”

He said cows were struggling to eat due to mouth lesions, calves were dying, and mastitis treatment was adding hours of labour daily.

“The disease is already nationwide,” Durham said. “If private sector capacity is not unlocked now, we are finished.”