The board of state-owned vaccine manufacturer Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) has placed acting CEO Dr Jacob Modumo on precautionary suspension following allegations of serious misconduct linked to the procurement and pricing of foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccines.

The suspension comes as South Africa has turned the corner on a severe outbreak of FMD, which has affected livestock producers across the country and intensified scrutiny of the state’s ability to secure and distribute sufficient vaccines. 

Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp presented the allegations against Modumo during an urgent meeting with the OBP board. They include claims relating to excessive pricing of FMD vaccines during the outbreak.

Modumo was subsequently placed on precautionary suspension and given five days to submit formal documentation responding to the allegations.

OBP is a state-owned company responsible for developing and manufacturing animal vaccines and plays an important role in South Africa’s livestock disease control system. 

The suspension follows months after pricing and procurement concerns were levelled at former Minister of Agriculture and former Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen. Modumo was appointed under Steenhuisen’s leadership. Steenhuisen promoted a policy that saw the state create a virtual cartel over vaccine procurement and distribution despite advice that this would leave the process open to price inflation, irregularities, and corruption. 

Farmers, meanwhile, were left without vaccines and suffered significant losses.  

While South Africa’s largest agriculture union, AgriSA, sought to appease the minister at the time, Free State Agriculture, the South African Agriculture Initiative (SAAI), and lobby group Sakeliga successfully challenged the state’s control over the procurement and distribution of FMD vaccines. This, in turn, forced the hand of the DA, which had up until that point supported Steenhuisen’s approach, to fire him and drive a change of policy under Aucamp. 

Insiders say the suspension of Modumo may be uncovering the tip of an iceberg of pricing and procurement irregularities that occurred under Steenhuisen’s watch.