Beef mince is at its highest price in eight years, according to Statistics South Africa’s Consumer Price Index. It was R14/kg more expensive in June than it was at the beginning of the year.

The increase is largely due to a widespread outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), a highly contagious virus that affects cattle, which has caused supply shortages. Infected cattle have been quarantined, and animal movement has been restricted until herds are vaccinated. There have been 270 reported outbreaks of the disease across five provinces.

South Africa currently relies on Botswana to supply its FMD vaccines. The Botswana Vaccine Institute is one of just five FMD vaccine producers in Africa.

At the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Indaba on 21 July 2025, Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen admitted that South Africa had been unprepared. “The national FMD vaccine bank was depleted,” he said.

“Onderstepoort Biological Products [a state-owned vaccine manufacturer] currently lacks the infrastructure to produce FMD vaccines at the scale and speed required to respond to outbreaks,” said Steenhuisen.