Farmers take government to court as foot-and-mouth disease spreads across entire South Africa

The legal challenge is being led by the Southern African Agricultural Initiative (SAAI), alongside Free State Agriculture and Sakeliga.

Farmers argue that the government’s control over vaccine imports is slowing the response to the outbreak, which has nearly 1,000 confirmed cases across the country.

Vaccines stuck despite national rollout

SAAI CEO Francois Rossouw said that while the government announced the arrival of one million vaccine doses and another 1.5 million on the way, the vaccines have not yet reached farmers.

“We’ve only seen those vaccines when they arrived in the country. Those vaccines have not been distributed to any provinces or to any farmers,” he said.

Rossouw claimed the doses were stuck in storage due to administrative delays.

“They are stuck there because of bureaucratic nonsense.”

He argued that if private imports were allowed, farmers could access vaccines directly through private suppliers with existing cold-chain logistics.

Farmers want access to private vaccines

The court action seeks clarity on whether the agriculture minister can block private access to vaccines.

Farmers say the centralised system prevents them from protecting their herds quickly enough.

“If we did not have the centralisation of the value chain, farmers would have been able to access these vaccines directly from private importers,” Rossouw said.

He said farmers could vaccinate the country’s roughly 14 million cattle within a year if they had direct access to large quantities of vaccines.

Concerns over rollout strategy

Rossouw also criticised the current vaccination rollout, saying the wrong vaccine strains were being distributed in some areas.

He said the most common strain in KwaZulu-Natal was SAT3, while SAT1 and SAT2 vaccines had been sent to the province.

“So, we are wasting those vaccines in an area where that strain is not even that prevalent.”

Farmers say millions of vaccine doses are needed to contain the outbreak.

Economic impact already mounting

The outbreak has already disrupted South Africa’s meat industry.

Rossouw said export markets had closed because of the disease, leading to an estimated R1.8 billion in losses.

In the short term, meat originally for export may be sold locally, stabilising prices.

But he warned that prices could rise sharply later as fewer farmers remain in the industry and livestock numbers decline.

“We will see prices increase dramatically.”

Herd losses and farm closures feared

Farmers say the crisis is already affecting the sustainability of livestock farming.

According to Rossouw, some farmers are abandoning beef and pork production because it is no longer profitable under quarantine restrictions.

“We are losing whole herds which farmers have built up over generations.”

He warned that if the outbreak continues to spread, South Africa could lose significant livestock genetics and see long-term damage to its farming sector.

For more information, listen to Rossouw using the audio player below: