Vaccines have been procured. A national disaster has been declared. But the disease is still spreading — because vaccines in the country are not the same as immunity in the herd.
FMD Response SA exists to make that gap consistently visible — until it is acknowledged and corrected in practice.
There are approximately 14 million cattle in South Africa. To control FMD, the national herd needs to be vaccinated twice a year — within tight, 8-week windows that build collective immunity before the virus can exploit the gaps.
That means 14 million doses procured and ready before each window opens. Not arriving gradually. Ready — so vaccination can move fast, across the country, at the same time.
Since the Minister announced the national vaccination programme four months ago, South Africa has received approximately 3.8 million doses through the state's single centralised procurement channel.
3.8 million doses. Four months. Against a requirement of 14 million per campaign.
At that rate, the target is not delayed. It is unreachable.
And even the doses that do arrive face a second bottleneck. Depot delays. A distribution process that keeps private veterinarians waiting. Provincial execution that turns one national plan into nine different realities.
Private veterinarians have demonstrated they can vaccinate approximately 50,000 animals in a day when doses reach them. The constraint is not the vets. It is the system they are operating in.
FMD is not controlled by vaccinating some animals some of the time. It is controlled by vaccinating enough animals, fast enough and at the same time — so the virus runs out of room to move.
Slow rollout is failure. Fragmented rollout is failure. Partial coverage is failure.
The question is not simply who should vaccinate. The question is whether the current system can vaccinate enough animals, fast enough, within the required window. The evidence on the ground says it cannot.
Legal processes, court deadlines, and industry engagement continue. They can change policy on paper. They do not correct system performance in real time — and they do not change the system that is causing the failure.
That is the specific gap none of the existing mechanisms are designed to fill.
FMD Response SA takes what is happening on the ground and turns it into clear, evidence-based material — and gets it in front of the people who can act on it.
In practice this means two things.
We track what is actually happening — procurement timelines, depot delays, provincial inconsistencies, cold-chain failures, the gap between what is announced and what reaches animals. We turn that into clear, factual material and keep it visible across media and industry channels until it is addressed.
And we use that evidence to engage decision-makers directly — across the Department, the political executive, and parliamentary structures. Public pressure and direct engagement work together. When gaps are consistently documented, the cost of inaction rises — and pressure to act increases.
We are not a legal vehicle. We work alongside the court processes underway — shaping the environment in which they are understood and scrutinised.
This is not a general awareness campaign. It is a targeted intervention into a live regulatory and operational failure, anchored to the 28 April court return and the framework that process produces.
FMD Response SA is governed by an eight-person steering committee drawn from across the South African livestock value chain. Each member brings direct operational experience of the crisis — as farmers, scientists, consultants, and industry leaders. The committee provides strategic direction, ensures the accuracy of all published material, and is accountable for the integrity of the initiative.
Stephen Butt manages finance and administration at Butt Farming in the Kamberg Valley, KwaZulu-Natal, a highly advanced pig production operation with approximately 3,100 breeding sows and certified specific-pathogen-free status. The business also operates beef and arable divisions. His experience spans multi-species production systems and high-level biosecurity management.
Georgie Muller is the Director of Dairy Junction, the dairy analytics division of Pinion SA, part of the Pinion Global Network. She works with more than 100 commercial dairy and beef producers across KwaZulu-Natal, the Southern Cape, and the Eastern Cape, providing monthly herd performance analysis, benchmarking, and production system support. Her work gives her direct, data-driven insight into how the FMD crisis is affecting herd health, production continuity, and farm-level decision-making across the sector.
Nick Stubbs is the General Manager of Stubbs Farming, an avocado and pasture-based dairy operation in the Karkloof and Nottingham Road area of the KZN Midlands. He studied at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and continues to lead the rapid growth of the operation. His focus is on pasture management, herd productivity, and the operational realities of farming through the FMD crisis in one of the outbreak's most affected regions.
Edgar Brotherton is a beef and dairy farmer and founder of the Just Milk Group, one of South Africa's largest dairy operations, managing approximately 17,000 cows across 15 dairies in the Eastern Cape. His experience spans large-scale milk production, processing, and supply chain integration, providing direct exposure to the operational and economic impacts of FMD on the dairy sector.
Jane Holliday is CEO of Intelact South Africa, the country's largest dairy and beef consultancy. She manages study groups representing more than 100 leading producers across KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and the Free State. She holds an MSc in Animal and Grassland Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and brings extensive experience in production systems, herd performance, and farm-level decision-making.
David Wood is the Managing Director of Farmers Agri-Care, a crop protection and yield enhancement business serving commercial farmers across KwaZulu-Natal. He has led the business since 2020, overseeing operations across row crops, orchards, vegetables, and forestry. His role provides direct access to the upstream agri-input network that supports primary production at scale.
Andrew Morphew manages Colbourne Farming in the Karkloof district of KwaZulu-Natal. He holds a B.Com (Hons) from Rhodes University and has been directly involved in the sector's response to the 2026 FMD outbreak, serving on the uMgungundlovu FMD JOC and the FMD Management Committee. He established Agri Insight SA, an independent analytical platform focused on animal health systems, agricultural policy, and the operational realities of the FMD response.
Wimpie Lambrecht is the National Sales Manager at Vitam International, a specialist supplier of feed additives and animal nutrition solutions to commercial livestock producers across South Africa. He holds a B.Agric in Animal Sciences from the University of the Free State and is also a practising commercial beef farmer. Wimpie brings a combination of technical nutrition expertise, national industry exposure, and hands-on farming experience. This dual perspective provides practical insight into the operational realities facing producers during the current FMD crisis.
All committee members participate in a personal capacity. FMD Response SA is not affiliated with any organised agriculture body, political party, or government structure.
FMD Response SA is funded by farmers and agribusiness stakeholders directly affected by the FMD response gap. Contributions support the independent documentation and communication of the gap between stated targets and actual outcomes — including vaccine flow into animals, cold-chain integrity, provincial execution consistency, and biological timing.
The function of the initiative is not to determine outcomes, but to ensure that operational reality remains visible and accurately understood.
Contribute online via our BackaBuddy campaign. Every contribution goes directly to communication infrastructure and operations.
Contribute via BackaBuddyFinancial oversight is maintained by the steering committee, with designated responsibility for expenditure approval and reporting. Annual financial summaries are made available to contributors.
For funding enquiries, banking details, or any questions about the initiative