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The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture has raised serious concerns about the slow pace of the department’s response to the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), warning that weaknesses in implementation, livestock traceability and coordination continue to undermine containment efforts.
 
The concerns emerged during a briefing from the Department of Agriculture on South Africa’s escalating FMD outbreak and vaccination programme, as well as the department’s responses to recommendations contained in the committee’s 2025/26 Budget Vote Report and the 2025 Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR).
 
The briefing on the FMD outbreak followed an earlier agreement between the committee and the department that the department would provide weekly updates to Parliament on the evolving outbreak, vaccination rollout and containment interventions.
 
According to the department, outbreaks have now been reported in all provinces, with the total number of reported outbreaks increasing from 932 in March to 2 034 by 22 May 2026. The department further noted that over five million vaccine doses had been secured through imports from Argentina and Turkey, while more than 3.3 million animals had already been vaccinated nationally.
 
Committee members questioned why vaccination progress remained slow despite the availability of vaccines. They pointed to operational shortcomings, including shortages of ear tags, syringes, vehicles and travel budgets, as well as limited capacity among animal health technicians.
 
The committee expressed particular concern about the continued spread of infections in communal farming areas, especially in the North West Province near the Botswana border, where the disease is reportedly spreading rapidly due to livestock movement and weak containment infrastructure.
 
Members further argued that vaccination alone would not be enough to contain the disease without stricter livestock movement controls, proper traceability systems and stronger enforcement measures. Concerns were also raised about inconsistencies between provinces in administering vaccines and implementing biosecurity protocols.
 
The committee indicated that during future engagements on the matter it intends calling MECs responsible for agriculture from affected provinces to explain the slow pace of vaccine administration and provincial implementation failures.
 
In addition to concerns around the FMD outbreak, committee members also expressed dissatisfaction with the level of detail contained in the department’s executive responses to recommendations arising from the committee’s Budget Vote Report and BRRR process. Members said the information submitted lacked sufficient detail to enable meaningful parliamentary oversight and effective engagement on matters relating to biosecurity, veterinary capacity, blended finance, agricultural colleges and farmer support programmes.
 
Committee Chairperson Ms Dina Pule said the committee would await the additional information promised by the department before determining further action.
 
The Deputy Minister, Ms Rosemary Capa, committed to work with departmental officials in strengthening the presentation and submitting more detailed information to address concerns raised by committee members as soon as possible.
 
The committee reiterated the need for urgency, stronger accountability and improved coordination across all spheres of government to prevent further spread of the disease and protect the country’s agricultural sector and food security.

Issued by Parliamentary Communications on behalf of committee chairperson, Dina Pule