{"id":45994,"date":"2025-12-27T04:19:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T04:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=45994"},"modified":"2025-12-27T04:19:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T04:19:06","slug":"state-tenderpreneurs-accused-trying-profit-foot-and-mouth-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2025\/12\/27\/state-tenderpreneurs-accused-trying-profit-foot-and-mouth-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"State and tenderpreneurs accused of trying to profit from foot-and-mouth disease"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>Another case of foot-and-mouth disease was identified in the Eastern Cape this week<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Earlier this week, another case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was identified, this time in Amahlati Local Municipality, in the Amathole District, Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n<p>Chief State Veterinarian Dr Ayla Newmarch confirmed the virus was isolated on a positive PCR lab test.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis animal was born and is an adult in the village in Keiskammahoek, where it was identified earlier this month. Backward tracing has yielded very little information, and the owner has not introduced new animals or been travelling himself. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the communal setting, the animals all graze together, and thus the source could be from another person or animal not yet identified. There is a team of animal health technicians sampling any new suspect cases,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-kzn-the-epicentre-of-fmd\">KZN the epicentre of FMD<\/h2>\n<p>Last month Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen said KwaZulu-Natal was the epicentre of FMD and added that by February next year, his department aimed to take delivery of two million doses of FMD vaccines in two separate consignments.<\/p>\n<p>Beefmaster Group CEO Gert Blignaut has welcomed the government\u2019s commitment to prioritising the fight against FMD, but said that time was of the essence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur industry cannot afford delays. As part of FMD Free with Vaccination, we will also need trade agreements that allow products from vaccinated herds to enter export markets. If we can speedily negotiate this with our export partners, then this will create an environment for our industry to stabilise and pick up momentum in 2026,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have navigated a significantly volatile environment, and this is likely to continue deep into 2026\/27. Meat prices lifted globally, and South Africa followed. Between February and May 2025, slaughter cattle prices climbed by around 15%. This was driven by scarcity rather than panic or disease-related disruptions at that time,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ: Can Steenhuisen hoof it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-increase-in-cattle-prices\">Increase in cattle prices<\/h3>\n<p>Blignaut said while the impact on consumers in 2025 was shaped by tough economic pressures such as inflation and unemployment, South African beef remains among the most affordable globally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough global supply dynamics supported better pricing, he says that FMD, which has plagued the industry since 2019, continues to be one of the most significant threats to and destabilising factors in the beef industry. Although FMD has been a consistent pressure point in the industry, especially in KwaZulu-Natal, the disease spread throughout the country in 2025 and then aggressively entered the feedlot industry in the middle of the year, spiking cattle prices by an additional 10%,\u201d he said<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFMD makes it difficult to compete economically. It adds direct costs because you must put safeguards in place to protect your business, and it distorts prices in a way that ultimately impacts the consumer. FMD has evolved into an economic disease. When an outbreak hits a region, that area loses economic value immediately,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ: FMD cases increase: Here\u2019s how much meat will cost for your Christmas meal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) Executive Board Chairman, Dr Theo de Jager, said the R300 per head that farmers are expected to pay for FMD vaccines, according to the Department of Agriculture, was excessive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe disastrous spread of this state-controlled disease can be directly attributed to the incompetence of senior officials within the department itself, and farmers \u2013 who have already suffered losses of R5.6 billion \u2013 cannot also be expected to foot the bill for government failure,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>De Jager said the Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS )\u2019s most recent vaccine purchases cost R60 per dose.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore effective, modern vaccines from Brazil and Turkey are even cheaper. Farmers find it contemptible that the state and tenderpreneurs are trying to extract excessive profits from a national disaster that has already financially ruined hundreds of farmers. The state should carry the full cost of its own failure,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ: BMA stops illegal animal vaccines at Polokwane Airport<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>De Jager said the department does not have the capacity to manage this crisis, and there is no alternative but to enter into a partnership with the private sector.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is crucial that such a partnership be led by the private sector, free from outdated ideological considerations, corruption, nepotism, and party-political interests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Meat Action Group\u2019s (RAG) Dr Jaco De Villiers said the solution to FMD lies in its simplicity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is about establishing compartments and controlling the ground level. Not monopolisation, not centralised data control, it is about simple compartments where movement can be stopped and controlled. Where state veterinarians and officials take orders from industry, not from politicians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#State #tenderpreneurs #accused #profit #footandmouth #disease<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another case of foot-and-mouth disease was identified in the Eastern Cape this week Earlier this week, another case of foot-and-mouth&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45994"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45996,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45994\/revisions\/45996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}