EXCLUSIVE: SA Farmers Turn to Legal Action as Disease Outbreak Intensifies

The Common Sense can exclusively report that South Africa’s farmers have turned to legal action against the Department of Agriculture, warning that government inaction has intensified the national foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak and pushed the country closer to a food security emergency.

The Common Sense has seen a legal letter sent to Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen and senior departmental officials, in which farmers plead with the department around regulatory paralysis and administrative failures that have now left the industry exposed to a deepening disease crisis.

FMD is a highly infectious viral disease that affects wild and domesticated cloven-hoofed animals and can sometimes be fatal.

The move marks the desperation felt by farmers, who say they can no longer rely on the department to perform the most basic regulatory functions required to manage the outbreak. According to the attorneys acting on behalf of farmers, months of engagement with the department have produced no resolution on licensing, permits, vaccine-movement approvals, or access to national stock records. The letter alleges that despite repeated commitments, key authorisations to secure vaccines have not been issued.

This action comes as the Milk Producers’ Organisation (MPO) warns that the FMD outbreak, especially in KwaZulu-Natal, is not under control. The province houses around 220 000 dairy animals and produces close to 30% of national milk output. With vaccine stocks depleted, containment efforts have been reduced to reactive emergency interventions rather than proactive suppression.

A central point of failure, according to both the legal correspondence and the MPO, is the unresolved approval of vaccine import permits. The letter states that conflicting communication inside the department has created uncertainty about who has the authority to approve the imports, leaving farmers stranded without the vaccines needed to control the disease outbreak. Without immediate authorisation, procurement for 2026 will be delayed by at least a month.

Farmers allege that Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has been absent from the crisis despite their efforts to meet with him.

Farmers also accuse the department of failing to maintain the legally required national inventory of vaccine stocks. The letter says the government has not provided real-time inventory access, proper stock-recording protocols, or formal systems for reporting discrepancies, leaving distributors unable to comply with regulations governing controlled vaccines.

The MPO further highlights that South Africa has, for a considerable period, failed to submit FMD field strains to the Pirbright Institute in the United Kingdom. Pirbright houses the World Reference Laboratory for Foot-and-Mouth Disease and is recognised by the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agricultural Organisation, a United Nations agency.

The MPO says this failure has crippled South Africa’s access to global diagnostics, limited vaccine-matching capability, and entrenched dependence on a single vaccine supplier, in direct conflict with government’s own contingency plans.

The legal action now underway demands the publication of the national inventory, the immediate approval of vaccine import permits, and the fulfilment of all outstanding regulatory duties. Farmers warn that unless the department acts, South African agriculture may be driven into crisis as shelves run dry of key staples.

The MPO has also appealed directly to President Cyril Ramaphosa, saying decisive intervention is now essential to stabilise livestock health, protect rural livelihoods, and prevent a collapse in the national milk supply.