The Acting CEO of Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) Dr Jacob Modumoh, as been placed on precautionary suspension following allegations of serious misconduct relating to the pricing of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines.
Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp confirmed the precautionary suspension instituted by the OBP Board after he convened an urgent meeting with the board on Friday, September 4, where he presented information relating to the allegations against the Acting CEO.
“On Friday, 4 September 2026, I convened an urgent meeting with the Board of OBP wherein I presented the Board with information of allegations of serious misconduct relating to the pricing of Foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccines against the Acting CEO of OBP,” said Aucamp.
The board subsequently gave the Acting CEO notice of its intention to suspend him and, in line with OBP policy, afforded him five days to provide reasons why he should not be suspended.
Aucamp said that if the reasons provided were insufficient, the suspension would remain in place pending an independent investigation into the allegations.
Aucamp warns against profiting from FMD outbreak
Aucamp said OBP should not unduly profit from the FMD crisis currently affecting farmers.
South Africa is experiencing what the minister described as the largest FMD outbreak in the country’s history, placing an added financial burden on farmers.
He said government had a responsibility to protect and support farmers by ensuring vaccines were procured and made available in the most cost-effective and efficient manner possible.
“As a government entity, OBP has an obligation to act in the public interest. There should therefore be no exorbitant markup on the sale of FMD vaccines, particularly at a time when farmers are already carrying the significant financial burden of this outbreak,” said Aucamp.
He stressed that the suspension was a precautionary measure and should not be interpreted as a finding that the Acting CEO had committed wrongdoing or misconduct.
Aucamp said the measure was intended to ensure that good governance, accountability and due process remained central to the operations of the public entity.
“It is important that the department as well as all public entities and Boards under my watch perform their duties ethically and with the highest standards – nothing less will be tolerated therefore I will maintain strong oversight over such entities to ensure good governance at all times,” added Aucamp.
FMD Response SA welcomes suspension
FMD Response SA has welcomed the minister’s intervention, while calling for similar independent scrutiny of South Africa’s FMD testing system.
The organisation said the vaccine at the centre of the allegations had been procured for the national FMD response and paid for with public money.
FMD Response SA spokesperson, Andrew Morphew, said the minister’s intervention demonstrated the importance of oversight.
“This was not farmers being overcharged. This was the Department of Agriculture paying the State’s own company with taxpayer money. The Minister has now done what oversight is supposed to do, and we welcome it.”
FMD Response SA said the vaccine supply had previously operated through a single channel, but that an agreement in July had opened the way for farmers and their veterinarians to buy vaccine directly.
The organisation said OBP’s vaccine pricing was now under scrutiny, but argued that testing remained concentrated in a single channel.
Farmers call for independent FMD testing
FMD Response SA said OBP and the Agricultural Research Council’s Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute were separate institutions, but argued that a critical part of the country’s FMD response remained concentrated in one channel without an external check.
The organisation said the ARC’s institute at Onderstepoort confirms the country’s outbreaks, conducts FMD testing, advises government on vaccine selection and manufactures its own FMD vaccine for the same response.
FMD Response SA argued that this placed multiple critical functions within the same system and called for external verification of testing results.
“No institution should wear all of those hats,” said Morphew.
He called for a routine share of South Africa’s FMD samples to be sent to the World Reference Laboratory for FMD at Pirbright in the United Kingdom for independent verification.
“That is not a criticism of anyone. It is how confidence is built,” Morphew said.
FMD Response SA said its concern was not about the good faith of any institution, but whether there was an adequate mechanism to independently check critical aspects of the country’s FMD response.
“No institution should be the sole judge of a response it also supplies,” the organisation said.
Minister urges public not to speculate
Aucamp said the matter would not be resolved through the media and called on the media and public not to speculate while the appropriate processes were underway.
“This matter will not be resolved through the media. We therefore urge the media and the public to refrain from speculation and to allow the appropriate processes to run their course until the matter has been concluded,” he said.
The minister said the Acting CEO was yet to make representations and had not been independently investigated.
He said the matter was still in its early stages and there would therefore be no further comment at this point.
The minister and OBP said further information would be provided when it was appropriate and lawful to do so.
FMD vaccination programme to continue
Aucamp assured stakeholders that the Acting CEO’s suspension would not affect the country’s ongoing FMD vaccination efforts or the progress made in combating the outbreak.
He urged the farming community not to be deterred by the developments, saying they should instead view the action as an indication of government’s commitment to good governance, accountability and the integrity of the country’s FMD response.
The minister also encouraged farmers to continue applying to become authorised persons, which would enable them to vaccinate their own animals in accordance with applicable requirements and protocols.
FMD Response SA said it remained committed to working with the minister, the Department of Agriculture, state and private veterinarians, vaccine suppliers, industry organisations and livestock producers to control FMD and restore South Africa’s animal-health status.
