Following the hearing, Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, said that he welcomed the outcome in the Gauteng Division of the High Court, which has affirmed the Department’s lawful authority to regulate and manage South Africa’s response.
Image: Phando Jikelo / Parliament of RSA
South Africa’s efforts to contain the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) received a boost this week as additional vaccine supplies were secured, while the Gauteng Division of the High Court declined to grant urgent relief sought by agricultural groups challenging government control over vaccine distribution.
The Department of Agriculture on Tuesday announced that approval had been reached for millions more vaccines against FMD.
However, Sakeliga, Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai), and Free State Agriculture appeared in Gauteng Division of the High court to interdict the government's obstruction of private-sector procurement and administration of FMD vaccines.
Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, welcomed the swift intervention by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) to expedite the importation of six million Dollvet vaccine doses to combat FMD.
“This follows a Section 21 permit issued on Friday for two million doses of the Dollvet vaccine. Sahpra has confirmed that two additional permits for the remaining four million doses will also be issued," he said.
"This phased procurement in lots of two million is a logistical necessity in light of the current conflict in the Middle East. On 1 March 2026, 1.5 million Dollvet vaccines from Turkey arrived in South Africa.”
Steenhuisen and the department confirmed that five million doses of Biogénesis Bago vaccines will also be on order soon.
Dawie Maree, head of information and marketing at FNB Agriculture, said that the addition of more FMD vaccines is good news.
“The more vaccines we can access, the sooner we can reach 80% herd vaccination as planned by the government. It is one thing to source the vaccines and another thing to get it in the animals," Maree said.
"We now need to scale up our capacity to vaccinate through state vets, animal health technicians, and in collaboration with the private industry.”
In a legal matter, Anton Meijer from Sakeliga said that Sakeliga and their partners this week participated in court-prescribed mediation between the parties.
“This mediation was unsuccessful. The hearing on Tuesday concerns the first stage of our legal strategy: an interdict restraining the state from blocking private individuals and entities from administering registered or authorised FMD vaccines to livestock, and prohibiting the State from interfering in the contractual relationships between those who legally import the vaccine and their suppliers,” he said.
Meijer added that all court papers have been filed by the relevant parties, except for the Minister of Agriculture, whose confirmatory affidavit remains due.
“A review application, constituting the second stage, will follow at a later stage. This review application will seek, inter alia, declaratory relief confirming that there exists no impediment to owners or managers of livestock administering the vaccine, alternatively reviewing and setting aside any such legal impediment that may exist or be created.”
Following the hearing, Steenhuisen said the application brought by Sakeliga and others sought urgent interim relief that would have effectively allowed for unregulated private procurement and administration of FMD vaccines, outside of the established national framework.
The court did not grant the urgent relief sought by the applicants.
“Instead, the matter has been postponed, and rightfully so, to allow the department to finalise its vaccination scheme. The department has been given a defined and reasonable timeframe within which to publish a vaccination scheme in terms of existing legislation.”
Steenhuisen said that the outcome reinforces the principle that South Africa’s biosecurity response must be coordinated, science-based, and aligned with national and international standards.
“This matter was never simply about access to vaccines. 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.”
Steenhuisen added that the court has recognised that there are no grounds for urgent intervention that would disrupt the State’s ongoing disease control strategy. “This is an important affirmation of the role of the government in managing animal health risks in a structured and responsible manner.”
Sakeliga confirmed that the matter was postponed until 28 April.
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