The Gauteng Division of the High Court has delivered a landmark ruling affirming the Department of Agriculture's lawful authority to regulate South Africa's response to Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD).The decision marks a significant victory for the state's centralised biosecurity framework.
The legal challenge, brought by Sakeliga and other applicants, sought urgent interim relief to allow for the private procurement and administration of FMD vaccines. Such a move would have effectively bypassed the established national framework, allowing for unregulated private intervention in disease management.
Court declines urgent relief
The Court ultimately declined the applicants' request for urgent intervention, ruling that there were no grounds to disrupt the State's ongoing disease control strategy. Instead, the matter has been postponed to allow the Department a “defined and reasonable timeframe” to finalise and publish a formal vaccination scheme under existing legislation.
Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen welcomed the outcome, noting that the attempt to bypass regulatory processes was both “premature and misdirected.”
A unified biosecurity response
Minister Steenhuisen emphasised that the ruling reinforces the principle that South Africa's biosecurity must be coordinated, science-based, and aligned with international standards.
“This matter was never simply about access to vaccines,” the Minister stated. “It was about ensuring that South Africa's response to FMD remains credible, coordinated, and compliant with the legal framework that protects both our national herd and our export markets.”
Progress on the vaccination scheme
The Department confirmed that development of the formal vaccination scheme is already well underway. Key features of the upcoming scheme include:
- Extensive Consultation: Insights gathered from the Ministerial Task Team and industry stakeholders.
- Structured Participation: Providing a mechanism for broader involvement while maintaining strict oversight.
- Core Safeguards: Ensuring vaccine integrity, traceability, and effective disease control.
Looking ahead
The Minister reiterated that the primary goal remains the stabilisation of outbreaks and the restoration of South Africa's international animal health status. He stressed that achieving this requires “discipline, coordination, and adherence to the law, not fragmentation.”
The Department remains committed to working with industry stakeholders, provided that such participation occurs within the lawful mechanisms designed to protect the national agricultural economy.