Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, has called for urgent and proper regionalisation of South Africa’s disease control framework, amid ongoing challenges posed by widespread Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreaks.
“Every credible trading nation in the world understands the principle of regionalisation, that an outbreak in one part of a country should not result in blanket trade restrictions for the entire nation,” Steenhuisen said.
The Minister made the call during the Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) Indaba, currently underway at the ARC-VIMP Campus in Roodeplaat, northeast of Pretoria.
The Minister’s call comes as the country is currently experiencing significant and ongoing challenges with widespread outbreaks of Foot and Mouth disease, affecting several provinces, including KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and, most recently, the Free State.
The resurgence of the disease has resulted in livestock movement restrictions and has also significantly impacted the country’s red meat trade on international markets.
In response to this escalating crisis, the Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), the University of Pretoria, and Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP), is hosting a national Foot and Mouth Disease Indaba.
The two-day event, starting Monday, 21 July 2025, aims to bring together top veterinary scientists, agricultural experts, and key industry stakeholders, to deliberate on and develop long-term solutions to combat FMD.
In his opening address, Steenhuisen said South Africa is falling behind in establishing, certifying, and maintaining internationally recognised disease control zones.
He said the failure to regionalise is not due to a lack of veterinary science, but institutional coordination, legal clarity, and capacity.
“It is unacceptable that South Africa takes years to respond to import health questionnaires, delays that have cost us market access and weakened our negotiating position. This is not a regulatory issue; it is a capacity issue, and we are taking steps to fix it,” the Minister said.
To address this, the Minister announced the appointment of two senior veterinarians, Dr Emily Mogajane and Dr Nomsa Mnisi, to lead the development of a comprehensive national regionalisation framework.
Mnisi and Mogajane bring extensive experience in veterinary science, government, and international trade.
Their work will focus on:
- Defining and operationalising regional disease zones for all major livestock sectors, in consultation with industry;
- Supporting provinces to assume their responsibilities as prescribed in the Animal Health Act, 2002 (Act No.7 of 2002), aligning disease control with our Constitutional division of powers; and
- Strengthening interdepartmental capacity to process export and import applications swiftly and credibly.
Public-private partnerships to improve vaccine security
Steenhuisen also called for stronger public-private partnerships to improve vaccine security, particularly for controlled animal diseases.
He urged the livestock industry, especially red meat, dairy, and game sectors to co-finance vaccine procurement.
“This does not mean you will manage the vaccines or the cold chains. But it does mean that, like in other agro-industries, we establish structured partnerships that ensure we are not caught unprepared again,” Steenhuisen said.
The Minister pointed to a recent breakdown in vaccine availability during the FMD outbreak, and that the national vaccine bank was depleted and the production cycle was misaligned with outbreak realities.
“Most notably, Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) currently lacks the infrastructure to produce FMD vaccines at the scale and speed required to respond to outbreaks.
“As a result, we were compelled to import vaccines from Botswana, to mount even a partial response. This situation is unsustainable for a country with South Africa’s livestock footprint and export ambitions,” the Minister said.
In response to this, Steenhuisen said government is establishing OBP, but warned that this will take time.
In the interim, he said efforts are underway to secure vaccine imports and establish forward-looking supply contracts to ensure minimum stock levels of FMD and other priority vaccines, “before the next outbreak, not after.”
He however warned that the State cannot do this alone and urged the industry to invest.
“If you want predictability, you must also invest. The time has come to build a nationally managed but jointly funded vaccine bank, not only for FMD, but for lumpy skin disease, brucellosis, Rift Valley Fever, and all other controlled diseases affecting trade and production.”
This article first appeared in SA News. Find the original here.
Photo by Daniel Quiceno M on Unsplash
