Parliament, Saturday, 7 February 2026 – The outbreak of a highly contagious, economically devastating viral Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) affecting cloven-hoofed livestock such as cattle, pigs, sheep and goats that has spread from Kruger National Park to KwaZulu Natal to other provinces has come under close scrutiny of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture.
The committee demanded answers and urgent interventions from the Department of Agriculture that are aimed at averting what could be an economic catastrophe if it were to continue to spread unabated.
The department appeared before the committee recently to explain the causes of its spread and what it has done to arrest its prevalence. According to its report, buffaloes are the native carriers of the FMD and South Africa has a huge population of buffaloes in its game reserves.
The department told the committee that although FMD is a state-controlled disease in terms of the Animal Diseases Act, 1984 (Act no 35 of 1984), section 11 of the same Act places an obligation on farmers to ensure that their animals are not infected, and if infected, to ensure that such a disease is prevented from spreading to their neighbours.
The committee heard that, through its interventions the department has quarantined the affected farms and has placed control on the movement of animals. The department has also vaccinated them using the BVI vaccine to arrest the spread of the disease.
To strengthen its intervention the department has, among others, come up with a strategy to interrupt virus transmission, reduce incidence to very low levels in 2–3 years and to create a certified FMD-free zones through vaccination,” the report claims.
These efforts would be supplemented by massive awareness campaign on FMD. The committee heard that in 12 months, the department seeks to reduce outbreak incidence by 70% in high-risk provinces through systematic vaccination. The department also intends to reach 80% vaccination coverage of targeted cattle populations in priority districts.
The committee wanted to know how many vaccines have been distributed now. In response the department said that the 1.2 million doses of vaccine, vaccinated 285 000 animals to date. Another 12 000 doses of vaccine would be rolled out on 6 February.
The committee heard that such amount was minimal, but nonetheless, this would roll out would be based on high-risk approach targeting the epicentres of FMD and would help to compliment what is already out there in the field.
The department informed the committee that it has had information sessions with private veterinarians, there will also be Imbizos to communicate critical interventions regarding FMD. But the priority now are the animal health technicians and veterinarians so that they can spread the information on FMD.
The Chairperson of the committee, Ms Dina Pule, reminded the department about a meeting that the committee had with CSIR last year on its research on FMD. She said there seemed to be a lack of research collaboration between CSIR, Agricultural Research Council, Science and Technology Department and other agricultural institutes on research related to FMD.
In that meeting, according to Ms Pule, the CSIR presented the technology on FMD that they have developed. She pointed out a point of care diagnostics which could be used for on farm testing for FMD.
The CSIR stated that they could not roll this technology out because it is only the ARC that is mandated to do so, she said. She then asked, given the current outbreak, if the department woulid speak to CSIR to roll out its technology to arrest FMD.
However, the CEO of Agricultural Research Council responded that they are collaborating with CSIR in the research work they do to produce the vaccines, and they formally coopted them to our team of experts that would design such research facility.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, MS DINA PULE.
For media enquiries, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Mava Lukani (Mr)
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