Foot-and-Mouth outbreak in Gauteng sparks crisis in South Africa's beef industry

Stephen Grootes speaks to Thabile Nkunjana, agricultural economist and Dipepenene Serage, deputy director-general of agricultural production, biosecurity and natural resources management about the impact of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak at Karan Beef's feedlot facility on South Africa's cattle industry.

Listen to the interview in the audio player below.

Karan Beef, South Africa’s largest beef producer, has confirmed an outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) at its feedlot in Heidelberg, Gauteng.

The infection was first suspected on 30 May and officially confirmed by veterinary authorities on 2 June 2025.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease is a highly contagious viral illness that affects cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and goats.

The Heidelberg facility, which houses approximately 145,000 head of cattle, has been placed under pre-emptive quarantine, and all cattle intake operations have been suspended until further notice.

Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Thabile Nkunjana, agricultural economist says this is a major blow to South Africa's beef industry.

"This is a hard pill to swallow, given he scale that Karan Beef operates on. Given that it's not only a big player in South Africa, it is quite big in the continent."

- Thabile Nkunjana, agricultural economist

"It (Karan Beef) also encompasses some of the countries that are around us, where they source some of the products. So even those countries, if this thig persists, they will also feel the effects."

 - Thabile Nkunjana, agricultural economist

"First quarter we've seen a good performance on exports, but should this continue like this, remember China has already banned our beef imports as of last month. So given that Karan Beef is one of the bigger players, then this puts all that into jeopardy."

- Thabile Nkunjana, agricultural economist

This incident has raised alarms across South Africa’s red meat industry.

In May, China suspended all beef and related product imports from South Africa following FMD outbreaks.

Karan Beef is now working closely with State Veterinary Services and other relevant authorities to implement stringent biosecurity and containment protocols.

Dipepenene Serage, deputy director-general of agricultural production, biosecurity and natural resources management says the facility is likely to remain closed for several weeks.

"Karan Beef feedlot is under quarantine, so that we're able to get into the place and investigate what would've happened, trace backwards and forwards so we can get to the origin of the virus."

- Dipepenene Serage, deputy director-general of agricultural production, biosecurity and natural resources management

"Gauteng is of serious worry to us because it shares a border with the Free State, North West, Mpumalanga and KZN. That's the biggest of our worries, but we hope that we'll be able to find the reason why it hit Gauteng."

- Dipepenene Serage, deputy director-general of agricultural production, biosecurity and natural resources management

"We had some challenges late last month, where there were reports of possible FMD outbreaks in the eastern part of Gauteng, so we are extremely worried."

- Dipepenene Serage, deputy director-general of agricultural production, biosecurity and natural resources management

Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the full interview.