President Cyril Ramaphosa used his state of the nation (Sona) address on Thursday to formally declare the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) as a national disaster, elevating the crisis to the highest level of executive intervention.
The declaration follows a surge in infections across parts of the industry, with authorities warning that the outbreak is inflicting significant economic damage.
Export bans and trade restrictions have already been imposed by several trading partners, limiting access to key international markets. For a sector that underpins rural livelihoods and agricultural exports, the impact is material.
The disease has been a topical issue in the past weeks, with some claiming the government’s handling of foot-and-mouth is inadequate and inefficient.
Ramaphosa confirmed that the government has decided to vaccinate the entire national herd. “We have decided to vaccinate the entire national herd — 14-million cattle. This requires 28-million vaccines over the next few months,” he said, reflecting the standard two-dose protocol required for effective immunisation.
He stressed that vaccine procurement will be centrally co-ordinated. “The state will facilitate the acquisition of the vaccine centrally to ensure we get the right vaccine for the particular strain of the virus in South Africa,” he said.
Drawing a parallel with the Covid-19 response, he added: “Like during Covid, many people felt tempted to acquire vaccines for themselves. But because we are a regulated country, we wanted everything to be approved by our authorities. Similarly, in this case, Sahpra will be the single organisation that gives approval.”
The government, he said, would work closely with industry to ensure rapid deployment. “We will work closely with the private sector to enable an efficient rollout and ensure farmers have immediate access,” Ramaphosa told MPs.
He also announced the establishment of a dedicated task team.
“We have established a task team made up of farming organisations and experts, working together with the minister of agriculture and his department,” he said. “They will report to me every month about the progress we are making in dealing with this outbreak.”
Framing the declaration within the disaster management framework, Ramaphosa stated, “We have classified foot-and-mouth disease as a national disaster and will be mobilising the necessary capabilities within the state to deal with this crisis.
“We do this because we have experts. We need to mobilise them. We need to bring them to work with government, because they have the know-how and the wisdom.”
Ahead of Sona, ActionSA parliamentary leader Athol Trollip, who also sits on the parliamentary committee on agriculture, spoke to Business Day and called for foot-and-mouth disease to be declared a national disaster.
Following Ramaphosa’s announcement, Trollip said: “This just shows that through pressure and exposure of the impact of the disease, and making calls for a disaster declaration, it works.
“The department of agriculture and the minister are overwhelmed by this disease. Now the whole government has been roped in and will report to the president. Hopefully this will speed up access to vaccines for livestock owners.”
The declaration enables accelerated procurement, co-ordinated interdepartmental action and the deployment of additional state resources as the government seeks to contain the outbreak and limit further economic damage.
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