MEDIA RELEASE
2026-02-09
SUMMARY: The Labour Party of South Africa (Labour Party) holds the Government of National Unity directly responsible for the uncontrolled spread of foot-and-mouth disease in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape, warning that coalition politics, institutional decay and the absence of decisive leadership have turned a preventable animal health outbreak into a national economic, food security and agricultural crisis. The Party also acknowledges the exit of Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen from the ongoing leadership race.
The Labour Party acknowledges the breaking news that while in the thick of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease the Minister of Agriculture, also the current DA leader John Steenhuisen has exited the ongoing race to leadership, following the allegations levelled against him of being captured.
The Labour Party condemns the obvious failure of the Government of National Unity (GNU) to contain the ongoing outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease affecting livestock in parts of KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape.
Across affected areas, the smell of burning carcasses hangs over rural communities. This is not the smell of routine disease control. It is the smell of livelihoods being destroyed, of generational agricultural work being erased, and of a state that has abandoned its most basic responsibility to protect food production and animal health.
“This crisis is not just something normal”, said interim President of the Labour Party, Joseph Mathunjwa. “Right now, farmers are being forced to destroy animals they have raised over generations, not because they are reckless, but because the state has left them with no choice” , he said.In towns and farming districts across the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, farmers have been compelled to cull healthy breeding stock and dairy herds as foot-and-mouth disease spreads unchecked. These are not isolated incidents. They are the direct consequence of weak enforcement of animal movement controls, the collapse of veterinary capacity, and years of neglect in public animal health systems.
“This disease did not spread because farmers failed”, Mathunjwa said. “It spread because the state failed to act, failed to enforce, and failed to prepare. I remember years ago before ANC communities had infrastructure which included cattle dipping treatments but today if it is not maintained it is rundown” , he added.
The Labour Party places direct responsibility on the GNU and its constituent parties, including the Minister of Agriculture, Mr John Steenhuisen, and the national Department of Agriculture.
“You cannot manage a national agricultural crisis through meetings and media briefings”, Mathunjwa said. “A virus does not respect coalition agreements and talk shops won’t stop the suffering of animals and resultant effect on food security. For the past 30 years ANC has clearly preoccupied itself with self-empowerment, failing to protect and advance the people of South Africa”, he added.
The crisis has also exposed the continued hollowing out of South Africa’s public veterinary and vaccine capacity. Institutions that once ensured sovereign animal health protection have been allowed to decay under successive administrations and are now conveniently blamed on history while the GNU fails to reverse the damage.
“When laboratories are silent and systems are broken, government offers excuses instead of solutions”, Mathunjwa said. “The Labour Party has consistently pointed out how this ANC has over decades destroyed our SOEs [State-Owned Enterprises] and public capacity to deal with issues. Honestly speaking, agriculture is a low hanging fruit for building the economy while empowering South Africans”, he said.
The Labour Party calls for urgent, decisive intervention rooted in competence and accountability, not coalition management. This includes properly resourced veterinary services, strict and uniform enforcement of animal movement controls, the restoration of public vaccine and laboratory capacity, and transparent reporting to the public.
“A government that cannot protect the food system cannot govern”, Mathunjwa said. “The GNU and Minister Steenhuisen must be held accountable for this failure”, Mathunjwa concluded.
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