During the February 17 Parliamentary debate on the State of the Nation Address (SoNA), Agriculture Minister and Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaration of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) as a national disaster.

This status will assist the government to unlock coordination and much-needed resources and supports the national strategy to move from a fragmented reactionary outbreak response to a whole-of-society, scientifically based, proactive war against FMD in South Africa.

“Make no mistake, tackling FMD is a massive challenge, and it will take a collaborative and transparent, sustained effort to resolve. FMD has been a reality a long time before we came into government.

“We appreciate the enormity of the impact on farmers, both financially and emotionally,” Steenhuisen said.

He added that South Africa had, for the first time, a long-term FMD eradication plan backed by science and with private sector involvement. Steenhuisen was confident that the plan would succeed and have profoundly positive impacts once South Africa’s beef can enter currently restricted global markets.

“We are also determined to take urgent steps to help those in greatest need as a result of this outbreak,” Steenhuisen said.

He mentioned that securing a reliable supply of vaccines had been a major priority.

South Africa lost its ability to produce vaccines in 2005, which has necessitated the importation of vaccines from the Botswana Vaccine Institute. Under the new strategy, government has secured new suppliers, which is strengthening the FMD response.

Moreover, Steenhuisen confirmed that, for the first time in over 20 years, the Agricultural Research Council had produced a batch of vaccines for operational purposes. The facility is being capacitated to produce 20 000 vaccines a week initially and up to 200 000 a week in 2027.

“Millions of vaccine doses are being procured. We will be receiving a delivery of one-million vaccines from BioGenesis Bago on February 21, which will mark the largest single import of vaccines to date.”

This will bring much needed relief to the most affected provinces and regions and will be followed by additional vaccines from both Botswana and Türkiye.

In total, Steenhuisen anticipates that South Africa will have received more than five-million vaccines from three suppliers by end-March.  

He affirmed that mass vaccination will continue and be accelerated. Already, more than two-million vaccinations have been administered and vaccines are being administered across the country daily.

Additionally, movement controls are being strengthened and veterinary capacity is being expanded.

Steenhuisen said private veterinarians can now register to administer vaccines as part of the rollout strategy, which will greatly improve the available manpower to ensure that the country meets its vaccination target of 80% of the national herd by December.

“This is the kind of coordinated response needed when economic risk meets national urgency, because protecting agriculture is not only about farmers, it is about protecting economic growth, jobs, and stability in rural South Africa,” Steenhuisen concluded.