By: Bright Ntuli
Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen has expressed concern over a legal letter received from Saai, Sakeliga and Free State Agriculture, demanding that livestock owners be permitted to privately administer vaccines.
The legal action comes amid what is widely regarded as South Africa’s worst outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in decades, with multiple provinces affected and severe restrictions placed on the movement of livestock.
Department of Agriculture spokesperson Joylene van Wyk said the legal move was “most unfortunate”, as it seeks to challenge provisions of the Animal Diseases Act, legislation under which the state is in the process of procuring vaccines and implementing its national FMD control and containment plan.
Under current regulations, FMD is classified as a controlled animal disease, meaning vaccination and disease management fall under the authority of the state and may only be conducted by designated veterinary services. The department has argued that centralised control is necessary to ensure biosecurity, traceability and compliance with international animal health standards.
Meanwhile, agricultural organisation TLU SA has maintained that at the heart of the country’s foot-and-mouth disease crisis lies a regulatory framework and limited state capacity that are not suited to the scale and urgency of the outbreak.
The government is currently facing multiple legal challenges over its handling of the disease, including allegations of delays in vaccine procurement, insufficient enforcement at auction sites and inadequate veterinary capacity in rural areas.
TLU SA spokesperson Bennie van Zyl said the outbreak is becoming a serious threat to South Africa’s food security, agricultural economy and rural livelihoods, warning that prolonged movement bans and production losses could have lasting consequences for both commercial and emerging farmers.
