Gauteng steps up foot-and-mouth disease response, with more than 286,000 animals vaccinated

Gauteng has administered more than 286,000 doses of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines and placed an order for an additional 90,000 doses, expected to arrive by the end of March.

Given that Gauteng is a “national logistics hub”, the goal of the provincial government is to “quickly suppress the virus and achieve disease-free status as soon as possible”, journalists heard during a media briefing on Tuesday by agriculture and rural development MEC Vuyiswa Ramokgopa and premier Panyaza Lesufi.

The province is managing 195 lab-confirmed outbreaks, with more than 261,000 animals affected, after the unlawful transport of infected cattle from KwaZulu-Natal to the West Rand in April last year.

The outbreak has been declared a nationwide animal health crisis. As previously reported, the FMD outbreak has already cost the livestock industry an estimated R5.6bn in lost export revenue, with producers receiving no compensation support to date. In response, business organisation Sakeliga warned that centralised state control over vaccine access is “entrenching” the crisis and is pursuing legal steps to allow independent private-sector responses.

“This crisis has serious consequences for the economy and society at large,” the provincial government said in a statement after the briefing. “It disrupts trade, threatens jobs in the livestock sector, and affects the income of small-scale and community farmers.”

Gauteng’s rapid response model aligns with the agriculture department’s national 10-year FMD eradication strategy but aims to achieve faster suppression of the virus in the province. Key pillars include:

• expanded vaccination;
• stricter movement controls;
• multi-departmental law enforcement; and
• direct engagement with farming communities and auctioneers.

More than R16m in provincial funding from the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme has been allocated to vaccine procurement, testing, mobile units and decontamination supplies. According to the statement, all infected farms are under strict quarantine.

Sakeliga, with farming organisations SAAI and Free State Agriculture, has escalated its challenge to the government’s centralised control of FMD vaccines, issuing a formal letter of demand to agriculture minister John Steenhuisen on Tuesday

The government has also deployed a cross-sector response team comprising veterinary officials, law enforcement, transport, environmental and community leaders. Roadblocks and movement controls are being established in high-risk zones, including Dinokeng Game Reserve, to prevent infection of disease-free buffalo populations and other biodiversity assets.

The Gauteng executive has called for greater national co-ordination across provinces and urged the development of local vaccine manufacturing capacity, led by a “fully resourced Agricultural Research Council”, to ensure future self-reliance.

South Africa currently relies on a mix of vaccine imports and limited local production. As part of the national stabilisation phase, the national agriculture department is sourcing vaccines from Argentina, Türkiye, Botswana and local partners. Virus samples have also been sent to the Pirbright Institute in the UK — for the first time since 2011 — to ensure strain matching.

Red tape obstructing disease control: Sakeliga

Sakeliga, with farming organisations SAAI and Free State Agriculture, has escalated its challenge to the government’s centralised control of FMD vaccines, issuing a formal letter of demand to agriculture minister John Steenhuisen on Tuesday.

The organisations argue there is no legal basis preventing livestock owners or the private sector from procuring and administering vaccines, and they have called on the minister to confirm this in writing by January 30.

They maintain allowing private vaccination would not undermine the state’s containment efforts but complement them by enabling faster, decentralised responses.

The demand follows earlier criticism from Sakeliga that government’s “gatekeeping” and red tape are obstructing effective disease control while the outbreak continues to spread.

— This story has been updated with Sakeliga’s additional statement.