Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism

1. (a) Full details of the 21-point plan

The 21 points plan is categorised into five pillars as follows:

• • • • Movement Control
• 24/7 border monitoring and major roadblocks.
• Permit system for livestock movement (draft gazette underway).
• Temporary shift of all physical livestock auctions to online platforms for 21 days (requested under the Animal Diseases Act).
• Traffic Officer training ongoing in all municipalities by State veterinarians
• • • • Monitoring, Surveillance, Traceability
• Rapid response teams for farm level surveillance and tagging.
• Cattle identification/tagging and real time tracking of movement permits using digital tools
• Abattoir monitoring entail official ante- and post-mortem examination of animals presented for and after slaughter
• Expanded laboratory testing capacity via the Western Cape Provincial Veterinary Laboratory (accreditation in progress).
• Passive surveillance – entails reporting suspected cases of FMD
• Clinical, targeted and Active surveillance – ongoing during routine vaccinations and outbreak response
• • • • Protocols and Enforcement
• Strict by law enforcement for biosecurity compliance.
• On farm hygiene protocols including mandatory disinfectant wheel dips.
• Contingency plans for outbreak escalation.
• Quarantine measures for suspected or confirmed herds, implemented within 48 hours.
• Additional veterinary technicians deployed provincially.
• Recovery and Containment
• Formal coordination through the WCDoA “War Room,” integrating all state and agricultural sector role players.
• Vaccination
• Cleaning and disinfection operations at outbreak and high risk zones.
• Monitoring of quarantined areas until cleared.
• FMD awareness and education campaigns
• Radio interviews
• Media statements
•    Trainings and awareness

These components together constitute the Western Cape’s 21-point response plan implemented with provincial partners and our stakeholders.

(b)       Most of the above measures are already fully operational and are being scaled up:

•  24/7 border control and active roadblocks across 13 municipalities.
• Vaccination rollout in multiple affected and high risk zones (Khayelitsha(Emfuleni and Makhaza), Mbekweni, Fisantekraal, Mossel Bay, and other informal settlements). These roll-out are also targeted to commercial farms in the 10km radius of the infected farms.
• Vaccination roll-out in highly concentrated dairy herds have started
• War Room operations and stakeholder coordination.
• Active enforcement of documented livestock movement.
• Tagging and surveillance of vaccinated cattle
• Veterinary laboratory testing support, additional provincial technicians, mobile diagnostic teams.
• Monitoring of quarantines areas
• Passive and active surveillance continuing
• Awareness and Training of various stakeholders by veterinary officials
• Stakeholder Engagements ongoing
• Awareness through communication

(2)(a) Total doses received

The Western Cape has received:

• 62120 doses from the national allocation
  • 1 500 donated by Limpopo and Free State Provinces during the first Drakenstein outbreak
  • 20 000 received from RMIS through national Department of Agriculture
  • 600 doses ARC vaccine
  • 40 020 part of the 1 million national shipment on 21 Feb 2026 from Argentina.

The province is further expecting:

• 100,000 additional doses over the coming days as part of Dollvet vaccine imported from Türkiye.

(2)(b) Doses administered

As of the latest updates:

• 47 419 cattle vaccinated in Western Cape

(2)(c) Additional doses expected

• Further 400,000 doses in total to finish the first round of vaccination in all animals within Western Cape, as the provincial scale up progresses another 600,000 doses for booster vaccinations.
• Nationally, further consignments continue to arrive (Turkey, Argentina, Botswana and ARC), with allocations to provinces ongoing.

(3)(a) Size of provincial cattle herd identified for vaccination

The Western Cape provinces, estimated herd size is about 595 913 whilst the aim is to national objective is to vaccinate 80% of the national herd Westen cape plan is to vaccinate the entire provincial herd,

     (b) High risk herds prioritised

• High risk herds include those in the informal sector, which can expose commercial herds, herds around outbreak areas and highly concentrated/intensively managed herds with high traffic e.g. dairies.
• These herds are the first target for the first batch of vaccines received with reserves left for unforeseen reported cases of FMD, 

    (c) Timeline for vaccination completion

• The rollout is being scaled up over the next several weeks, aiming for rapid province wide coverage, depending on the availability of vaccines.
• Nationally, government aims for 80% of the cattle herd vaccinated by end of 2026, influencing provincial plans.

(4) Approval for Western Cape to Procure Own Vaccine Stock

• No approval had been received yet, but engagements are underway with the national DG.

(5)(a) Animals tagged and registered

All cattle vaccinated animals are tagged for traceability.

Province wide tagging continues as doses roll out, and these will be uploaded through Livestock identification and Traceability System (LITs)

    (b) Monitoring mechanisms

Monitoring relies on:

• Representative blood samples have been taken in all vaccinated herds before vaccination.
• Animal identification records have been collected
• Further surveillance samples will be collected at 3-60 days after vaccination and at the point of booster vaccinations
• Digital permit tracking systems linked to real time movement logs.
• Ongoing quarantine zone monitoring where there were active infections 

(6)(a) Economic risk avoided

• The Western Cape livestock sector is valued at R13.5 billion and supports 50,000 jobs and early vaccination helps prevent shutdown of this entire value chain
• Without intervention, widespread culling, export bans, and regional grazing lockdowns would escalate economic loss, as seen nationally where outbreaks caused mass culls and export restrictions.

    (b) Impact on job security and export confidence

• Vaccination protects meat and dairy processors from supply disruptions.
• Job protection is a central goal, as the provincial economy faces severe downside risks without rapid containment.
• By implementing strict biosecurity and rapid vaccination, the province positions itself to maintain market confidence and recover export certification status to some countries faster.