A task team will be appointed within days to drive South Africa’s foot-and-mouth disease strategy, following last month’s FMD indaba held at the Agricultural Research Council’s Roodeplaat campus in July, says Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen.
By Alani Janeke, senior journalist at African Farming and Landbouweekblad
Minister John Steenhuisen told African Farming at the Agri Western Cape 2025 conference in Rawsonville on Thursday he expects to sign the documents to establish a task team to address the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak within days. The team will form part of the national plan to combat the disease. At the FMD Indaba held in July, it was agreed that the government’s current disease-control strategy was failing and that a new approach was needed.
Steenhuisen emphasised that the department’s new plan was science-based, coordinated and designed for long-term effectiveness. “We are also building a national location framework to allow safe trade from zones unaffected by the disease,” he said.
FMD is currently present in the Free State, North West, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
The importation of vaccines is helping to stabilise supply and build reserves for the future. Steenhuisen said the private sector was also being encouraged to invest in a nationally managed vaccine bank.
“We are integrating spatial planning with veterinary control measures, and supporting the construction of abattoirs and feedlots in protection zones to enable movement control and compliance.”
He added that the department understood the devastation the disease was causing in rural areas, and was working to restore market confidence and safeguard the survival of rural communities.
Also read: FMD | Indaba in Pretoria MUST bring solutions
Trade Negotiations Ongoing
Steenhuisen also spoke about other key focus areas, such as the recently imposed US tariff of 30% on imports from South Africa. He could not provide details of the new plan South Africa presented to the United States earlier this week: “As part of the negotiations, we had to sign a document stating that we would not discuss it publicly,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the plan will offer a solution, adding that government will also send a negotiating team to the US. The timing, however, remains uncertain. “There are currently 136 countries that keep knocking on the door of the US department for a slot to negotiate.”
He said discussions with American officials were ongoing. At a meeting with a senior official on Wednesday evening, he reiterated that the US, which frequently states in the media that it wants to protect South African farmers and rural communities, was in fact harming them through its actions.
Also read: Government counters US tariffs with negotiation, support and diversification drive
Strict Action Should Be Taken Against SANDF Chief
Steenhuisen said comments by General Rudzani Maphwanya, chief of the South African National Defence Force, during a visit to Iran were undermining South Africa’s negotiations with the United States. According to Iranian media, Maphwanya discussed not only military and strategic cooperation but also politics during a delegation visit to Tehran.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation distanced itself from Maphwanya’s remarks on Wednesday evening. Steenhuisen stressed that it was vital for President Cyril Ramaphosa to act quickly and decisively to hold Maphwanya accountable.
Agriculture Is a Driver of the Future
Steenhuisen concluded his message to conference-goers by saying, “Agriculture is not a relic of the past; it is a driver of the future.”
He assured farmers that their perseverance, resilience and long hours did not go unnoticed, and that the government, and his department, were ready to walk alongside them – not as a passive regulator but as an active partner for growth.
The future of agriculture will not be decided only in government offices or boardrooms, he said, but will be shaped by the relationships built, the trust fostered and the commitments kept.
