By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa is aiming to vaccinate its entire national herd against foot-and-mouth disease as the livestock industry grapples with a wave of outbreaks that has left farmers reeling in despair.
Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen made the announcement at the African Farmers Association of South Africa conference north of Pretoria on Wednesday (26 November).
“The Department of Agriculture has resolved to implement a comprehensive strategy to vaccinate the entire national herd,” he said.
“This strategy aims to vaccinate South Africa’s national herd systematically, beginning with the hardest-hit provinces.”
South Africa’s national herd of cattle is estimated to number about 7.2 million, and includes huge herds on commercial farming operations and smaller herds owned by subsistence farmers grazing on communal, unfenced pastures.
The epicentre remains in KZN, where dairy farmers have been hit hardest and which has 180 of the 274 unresolved reported outbreaks. The most affected districts are Kokstad, Dundee, Underberg and Dannhauser.
The strategy aims to target the worst-affected provinces first: KZN, Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga and North West, which will be required submit their livestock numbers and list of quarantined farms.
South Africa has been battling a major FMD outbreak this year, after the country’s largest feedlot, Karan Beef, reported an outbreak at its Heidelberg facility.
The outbreak was first reported in May 2025 and has since spread to other provinces.
This led to a concerted containment and vaccination drive, with exports closed off and local meat prices rising sharply as a result of lost stocks.
According to Steenhuisen, despite the vaccination of over 930,000 animals over the past three months, uncontrolled animal movement has been undermining containment efforts.
While progress has been made, the current trajectory is not acceptable.
“We must be honest with the public and with our farming sector. This is a battle we are currently not winning, “he said, adding that it was time to up the ante.