Agricultural bodies Saai, Vrystaat Landbou and Sakeliga have launched an urgent High Court bid in Pretoria to halt government restrictions on foot-and-mouth disease management while they prepare a broader legal challenge against the measures. The organisations are seeking an interim interdict against Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, the Department of Agriculture and the director of animal health, calling on the court to step in and prevent what they describe as further and irreparable harm to the farming sector.
The legal action follows what the applicants say was Steenhuisen's failure to justify the prohibition on private sector procurement and administration of foot-and-mouth vaccine, along with alleged departmental interference that obstructed and delayed private vaccine imports. Sakeliga contends that the minister and his officials' insistence on maintaining exclusive state control over every aspect of the vaccine — contrary to standard practice for other livestock diseases where private procurement is permitted — has inflicted widespread hardship and significant production losses on farmers.
Saai CEO Francois Rossouw described the situation as a financial catastrophe, stating that producers are simply demanding the right not to be blocked from safeguarding their own livestock and livelihoods. The interim interdict aims to restrain the minister and departmental officials from unreasonably obstructing farmers seeking to lawfully obtain and administer vaccine, as well as from interfering with private importation and distribution arrangements.
Vrystaat Landbou maintains that producers must not be barred from protecting their herds where they have the means to do so within the bounds of the law. President Francois Wilken argued that it is unacceptable for private efforts and resources to be stifled at a time when the state itself acknowledges capacity constraints and the disease has already spread extensively.
Saai board chairman Dr Theo de Jager added that prohibiting farmers from acting alongside government efforts while losses continue to mount is not only economically damaging but legally indefensible. The court has been asked to provide urgent legal clarity before further devastation is inflicted on herds and farming operations. The matter is expected to be heard later this month.
