By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Department of Agriculture (DOA) minister, John Steenhuisen, officially gazetted the Routine Vaccination Scheme for Foot and Mouth Disease (RVS-FMD) on Tuesday, 4 May 2026.
This scheme, established under Section 10 of the Animal Diseases Act, 1984 (Act No. 35 of 1984), marks a major shift towards a voluntary, nationwide framework for managing FMD, allowing private veterinarians and livestock owners to play a direct role in vaccinating their herds.
The FMD outbreak started in April 2025 and has since spread to all nine provinces in South Africa, with farmers across the country battling the highly contagious disease.
Last week, the court ordered Steenhuisen to publish his delayed section 10 vaccination scheme by May 5 and set May 11 for argument in an urgent application brought by Sakeliga, South African Agri Initiative (SAAI) and Free State Agriculture.
Steenhuisen has been taken to court over the state-controlled vaccination programme that gave rise to the new Routine Vaccination Scheme, which has now been gazetted.
He has published a new scheme that will allow farmers to employ private veterinarians to vaccinate their cattle against FMD.
Routine vaccination, also known as systematic vaccination, refers to an ongoing programme with a focus on prevention and control.
The proposed scheme, which will be voluntary, will fall under a committee drawn from the state and private sectors that will include vets and experts in virology as well as representatives from agricultural associations.
While the state vaccination programme continues to be free, farmers who opt to vaccinate their own cattle will have to pay for the vaccines.
The minister has defended the timeline, stating that public comment had to be considered regarding the draft published last month.
Over 300 submissions were considered within ten working days.
“Public participation is a key element of any government process, and it would have been wrong for us to publish a final Section 10 scheme without giving the affected industries as well as stakeholders the opportunity to make the comments that they did,” Steenhuisen said.
Steenhuisen has also hit back at critics for choosing a state-controlled vaccination scheme and defended his recent trip to South America to establish best practice.
“We will continue to make use of science as well as experiences elsewhere where success was achieved in the war against FMD,” he added.
Efforts to contain the disease have been marked at times by confusion and perceptions of a slow roll-out. The latest initiative will no doubt take some time to get off the ground, but it has the potential to boost the battlefront against the disease.