The government has given in to farming industry pressure, gazetting a scheme allowing farmers to vaccinate animals voluntarily.
According to the gazette, farmers who intend to do so have to meet strict requirements, including traceability, veterinary supervision and proper record-keeping.
Farmers must appoint authorised veterinarians or animal health technicians, and all vaccinations will be conducted under state oversight.
Agriculture minister John Steenhuisen told a press briefing on Tuesday that the government is still aiming to vaccinate 80% of the national herd by December as it moves to regain the status of being free of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
The move effectively creates a dual-track system, allowing private vaccination under strict controls while maintaining a state-led national rollout.
It comes after sustained pressure from organised agriculture for faster, decentralised access to vaccines as the outbreak continues to spread.
The outbreak, which began in late 2025, has escalated into a national crisis, with President Cyril Ramaphosa declaring it a national disaster in February. The disease has spread across most provinces, disrupting livestock production, halting auctions and restricting animal movement.
The economic impact has already been significant. South Africa’s beef exports fell by about 26% in 2025, with key markets imposing restrictions, including a sharp decline in exports to China. Forecasts suggest export volumes could fall further to about 13,000 tonnes in 2026, with an estimated R1.8bn reduction in export earnings.
Industry modelling indicates that cumulative losses to the beef sector could reach R3.2bn-R11.3bn in the coming years, with longer-term output losses potentially exceeding R25bn.
The outbreak has also disrupted the broader agricultural value chain, affecting feedlots, transporters, abattoirs and rural employment, while tightening cattle supply and driving price volatility.
According to Stats SA data, livestock production accounts for more than 40% of total agricultural output, with agriculture contributing up to 3% of South Africa’s GDP. Meat, particularly beef, continues to be one of the main drivers of food inflation.
The vaccination framework itself was shaped partly by legal pressure, with a high court process earlier this year compelling the government to formalise its approach under the Animal Diseases Act, amid calls for greater private sector involvement.
Steenhuisen said recent agreements with Argentina and Brazil will support the rollout by securing vaccine supply and strengthening technical capacity.
South Africa has signed a memorandum of intent with Brazil, drawing on that country’s experience in eradicating the disease, and has secured additional vaccine supply through agreements with Argentina.
The department has already secured millions of vaccine doses, with further shipments expected. However, officials have cautioned that supply remains constrained because vaccines must be matched to circulating virus strains before they can be deployed.
Steenhuisen, who earlier this year dropped out of the DA leadership race “to focus on his department’s fight against foot-and-mouth disease”, said more than 2.5-million animals have been vaccinated in the initial phase of the rollout, with additional supply expected to accelerate coverage.
While we greatly appreciate the government’s commitment to South Africa’s farmers, as well as the acquisition of superior vaccines to control the virus, the current strategy and vaccination rollout at the farm level remains fundamentally inadequate.
— FMD Response SA spokesperson Andrew Morphew
He also announced the lifting of the disease management area in KwaZulu-Natal, saying infections had spread beyond the original control zone and necessitated a shift to a broader, national approach.
He said the long-term goal is to restore South Africa’s FMD-free status, initially with vaccination and eventually without it, allowing the country to reopen export markets.
However, the strategy has come under sharp criticism from industry group FMD Response SA, which warned that the current rollout is unlikely to succeed.
In a statement, the group said the probability of failure under the government’s current vaccination approach is 90%-95%, arguing that the plan “cannot mathematically achieve the herd immunity required by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) for foot-and-mouth disease-free status”.
“While we greatly appreciate the government’s commitment to South Africa’s farmers, as well as the acquisition of superior vaccines to control the virus, the current strategy and vaccination rollout at the farm level remains fundamentally inadequate,” said spokesperson Andrew Morphew.
The group said the only way to halt the spread of the disease is to vaccinate the country’s about 14-million cattle in a tight six to eight-week window to achieve near-universal immunity.
By contrast, the government’s plan to vaccinate 80% of cattle by December risks allowing immunity in early-vaccinated animals to wane after about six months, before later vaccinations are completed, enabling continued transmission.
Morphew said international experience shows that strict timelines and booster programmes are critical.
“No country in the world has achieved World Organisation for Animal Health FMD-free-with-vaccination status using annual rolling single-dose campaigns,” he said.
While welcoming the scheme’s provision for some private participation, the group argued that continued state control over vaccine distribution would create bottlenecks.
“This approach is a recipe for failure,” Morphew said, adding that delays could result in some cattle losing immunity before others are vaccinated, increasing reinfection risk.
FMD Response SA said the scheme lacks mandatory, tightly enforced timelines and warned that a slow, state-controlled rollout would not contain the disease. It argued that vaccination “at speed and scale” would only be possible through full activation of private sector vaccine distribution.
Business Day
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