The ban has been in place since foot-and-mouth disease broke out in Limpopo in January 2019.
In a notice to livestock industry stakeholders, the chief director of Zimbabwe’s directorate of veterinary services, Dr PV Makaya, wrote that cloven-hoofed animals and their products may be imported to Zimbabwe again from Gauteng, North West, the Northern Cape and Western Cape. This follows a recommendation in an FMD risk assessment report compiled by a team of veterinary epidemiologists and laboratory experts in the country.
“No import permits shall be issued from the other South African provinces which are not mentioned in this review notification as they remain banned until further assessments.”
According to Dr Frikkie Maré, CEO of the South African Red Meat Producers Organisation (RPO), the most important exports from South Africa to its neighbouring countries prior to the outbreak were genetic material such as semen straws.
He says it will take time for actual exports to Zimbabwe to resume, as exporters in South Africa will first have to resume talks with their peers in Zimbabwe.
Namibia lifted a ban on the import of genetic material last month under strict conditions; its border remains closed for red meat and livestock.
The weak economic conditions in South Africa have kept local red meat prices to producers stubbornly low, and the RPO has long said that exports will play a valuable role in improving farm income.
“It is too early to say what effect this partial opening of the Zimbabwean market will have, but ultimately any exports can have a small effect on the price,” says Maré.
He says negotiations are continuing to open export markets for genetic material in other countries.
In October, the Department of Agriculture declared North West, Free State, Gauteng and Mpumalanga FMD free. The outbreak in Limpopo outside the endemic FMD zone was closed in August 2023.
According to the latest available FMD update from the department, there were still 133 active outbreaks in KwaZulu-Natal. In the Eastern Cape, 37 farms were affected and a disease management area with strict movement controls remain in place.
