Agriculture Minister Willie Aucamp confirmed on 5 September 2026 that the board of state vaccine manufacturer Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) placed acting CEO Dr Jacob Modumo on precautionary suspension over allegations of serious misconduct relating to Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine pricing. Aucamp convened an urgent meeting with the OBP board on 4 September 2026 after receiving the allegations, according to a statement from his office.
The board gave Modumo five days to explain why he should not be suspended, and the precautionary suspension will remain in place pending an independent investigation. The minister’s office stressed that the suspension should not be treated as a finding of wrongdoing.
“This matter will not be resolved through the media,” Aucamp said in the statement. “The Minister has made it clear that the OBP should not unduly profit from the tragedy of FMD currently facing our farmers.”
As first reported by GroundUp on 5 September 2026, the suspension centres on how FMD vaccines are sourced and priced at OBP, a state entity that manufactures and supplies animal vaccines under the Department of Agriculture. The allegations come amid a significant FMD outbreak that has placed mounting pressure on livestock farmers across South Africa, with vaccine availability and cost directly affecting disease control efforts.
The suspension follows a landmark settlement reached in Pretoria on 9 July 2026 between the Department of Agriculture and agricultural organisations, in which OBP and the department relinquished sole rights to import and distribute FMD vaccines. The agreement allowed owners and managers of cloven-hoofed livestock to voluntarily vaccinate their animals under strict biosecurity, legal, traceability and reporting conditions.
“We now need to enable the private sector to import at scale and it is for this reason that the department and Onderstepoort Biological Products have expressly relinquished sole rights to the import and/or distribution of FMD vaccines,” Aucamp said, as reported by the South African Government News Agency on 10 July 2026. Eyewitness News reported the same day that Aucamp said the agreement would not stop mass vaccinations but would help increase vaccine flow into the country.
GroundUp reported allegations that OBP purchased FMD vaccines from manufacturer Biogénesis at approximately R45 per dose and sold them for between R70 and R130, but these specific pricing figures have not been independently confirmed by a second source. The minister’s office has not publicly disclosed the exact pricing details under investigation.
The specific scope, leadership and timeline of the independent investigation into Modumo remain undisclosed. Cape Flats News journalist Nadia Adams will seek confirmation from the Department of Agriculture on the investigation’s terms of reference and expected completion date by 12 September 2026.