By Maile Matsimela
African Farming’s Digital Editor Maile Matsimela engaged Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen on critical issues ranging from plant disease control vs animal disease control, non-compliance with FMD protocols, and the status of US-South Africa trade negotiations following the government’s recent trip to the United States of America. The Minister addressed pressing agricultural concerns during a media briefing on the outskirts of the 2025 National Biosecurity Summit held at the University of Pretoria on 10 June.
Plant disease control vs animal disease control
When asked why animal disease control appears to receive more attention than plant disease management, despite potential devastating consequences to food security should staple crops like maize suffer from disease outbreaks, Minister Steenhuisen provided a comprehensive response.
The Minister acknowledged the perceived imbalance in attention: “I don’t want there to be an anomaly that we treat one more than the other. I think what happens is the animal diseases tend to make it into the system. And that’s why we’ve been able to get the media’s attention a lot quicker than for the plant diseases.”
He cited specific examples of plant disease management: “For instance, we’ve had issues with bananas and a variety of other crops. And the department is absolutely on top of dealing with it. As well as plant-related pests like fruit flies and others, fall armyworm and various other pests that affect the crops going forward.”
“So, plants do get attention too, to ensure that there’s enough supply, particularly for those who rely on staple foods, plant grains and plant products that are essential to feed themselves and their families,” Minister Steenhuisen stated. “We have very extensive monitoring systems within the country to monitor those diseases. “And the department’s plant health units, the directors sitting behind you will be able to give you chapter and verse exactly what those particular systems are.”
Non-compliance with FMD protocols
On our question regarding concerns about foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) protocols not being followed by farmers, particularly in deep rural areas where policing is limited and cattle are moved around for slaughter at funerals and weddings almost every weekend, Minister Steenhuisen had this to say:
“Obviously this is a huge problem. I think it speaks to the South African problem that we’re very good at creating laws and regulations. We’re not very good at enforcing them. And unfortunately, the laxity of enforcement has led to a situation where people now often treat laws and regulations as obstacles or extras rather than as mandatory.”
Minister Steenhuisen highlighted a specific incident: “There was an animal auction that took place in Utrecht in the middle of the disease management area in KwaZulu-Natal, which has now contributed to the spreading of the disease. The Director General informed me and we’ve taken the decision to pursue criminal charges against those individuals.”
The Minister emphasised the economic impact of non-compliance: “If I look just at one outbreak in Humansdorp, it cost the economy over R100 million. It’s huge economic damage that’s been done as a result of somebody who decided to bring animals in from Limpopo.”
Looking forward, he outlined enforcement strategies: “I think that once we can put a few heads on spikes, it will start to send a message that we are serious about enforcement. We’re going to choose a few high-profile cases and prosecute them to the full extent that we are able to, and use that to set an example.”
He also mentioned legislative approaches: “One of the other suggestions that’s come out this morning is getting a piece of legislation through a biosecurity act. And I think that is something I’m very open to looking at.”
US-South Africa trade negotiations
Regarding our question about the status of trade negotiations between South Africa and the United States, following the Minister’s recent visit as part of a delegation meeting with President Donald Trump, Minister Steenhuisen provided a detailed update.
“We’ve had a number of interactions with the US trade representative in Korea and in the US around trying to avoid the 30% tariff on South African agricultural goods,” the Minister explained. “It would simply make South African agricultural goods and agricultural products uncompetitive in the United States context. So, our primary objective is to avoid getting those 30%.”
He detailed the comprehensive trade proposal presented: “We travelled to Washington with a comprehensive trade agreement we feel was a reasonable first offer to them. It included several things like resolving the issue around blueberries, which had exosomes in, issues around seasonal availability to access to our markets on things like citrus, but also a soft ban lift proposal on managing avian influenza in chicken and pork.”
Biosecurity concerns remain central to negotiations: “They’re (biosecurity concerns) still obviously being exercised around pork, and we’ve also got concerns from a biosecurity perspective – things like Aujeszky’s disease (also known as pseudorabies), which poses a risk to our local pork sector here.”
The Minister expressed optimism about ongoing dialogue: “I think we had a constructive meeting in the White House. It gave us an opportunity to talk about some of the issues in greater depth. I think there’s a better understanding about South Africa and what we’re trying to achieve here.”
He referenced collaborative efforts with other ministries: “We’re going back with another offer that’s been stewarded by Minister Parks Tau (Department of Trade and Industry) to sharpen our pencil on a few matters, particularly around auto tariffs and import discrepancies between China and the US into the South African market.”
Looking ahead to AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) negotiations, Minister Steenhuisen noted: “There’s a scheduled discussion before the African Trade Leaders Summit taking place this month or next month. And after that, we will engage in congressional level discussions.”
The Minister also emphasised market diversification strategies: “We’re obviously looking for diverse markets – apples to Thailand, grapes to the Philippines, expanding what we’re sending to China, looking at the Middle East as a potential alternative, as well as other countries in Southeast Asia are part of that particular initiative.”
He concluded with a realistic assessment: “But I want to be clear – it’s not a short-term solution. It takes a long time to negotiate protocol and to get the scientists from both countries to agree. So, it’s not a case of, okay, in November we can just switch citrus to another country. It does take a while.”
The Minister’s responses highlighted the government’s ongoing efforts to address both domestic agricultural biosecurity challenges and international trade relations amidst evolving global dynamics.
