(Photo: Janice du Plessis/Maroela Media)
John Steenhuisen, minister of agriculture, responded to X on Tuesday after an email from Jana le Roux, his chief of staff, was widely distributed on social media and sharply criticized. In the e-mail, a request from the industry organization FMD Response SA for closer cooperation was dismissed as “entertainment”.
I note an email originating from a ministry staff member.
The email was in bad taste and I have requested the person concerned to apologise to the respective parties.
We must continue to show mutual respect and always act in good faith.
Because it is only through…
— John Steenhuisen MP (@jsteenhuisen) June 9, 2026
“I take note of an e-mail sent by a staff member in the ministry,” Steenhuisen wrote.
“The email was in poor taste and I requested the person to apologize to the parties involved.
“We must continue to show mutual respect and always act in good faith,” said Steenhuisen.
Also read: Foot and Mouth Disease | Investigation demanded after ‘joke’ email
The reaction follows after the FF Plus demanded an urgent investigation into the e-mail sent by Le Roux to the Department of Agriculture’s director-general, Ramasodi Mooketsa, and the deputy director-general for agricultural health, Dipepeneneng Serage.
The e-mail was related to a letter from FMD Response SA in which the organisation, which represents more than 250 farmers, asked for closer cooperation between the state and the private sector to combat the foot-and-mouth crisis.
In the email, Le Roux wrote: “Attached just received for some amusement”.
Oops! This is how seriously Steenhuisen and team mean their assurances that ‘the door is always open to farmers’. A request from the farmer organisation FMDResponse SA to co-operate more closerly with the department – inadvertently copied back to the senders. Steenhuisen must… pic.twitter.com/gKLZ7ajSBq
— WSM (@TheJaundicedEye) June 8, 2026
The FF Plus believes the incident indicates a “deep-rooted and reprehensible disregard” of the agricultural sector’s efforts to find solutions to the foot-and-mouth crisis and has demanded disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, FMD Response SA confirmed that the organization is still willing to work with the department.
According to Andrew Morphew, close collaboration between the state and the private sector is essential if South Africa is to successfully control the outbreak of the highly contagious disease.
The organization is calling for private vets to have greater access to foot-and-mouth disease vaccine and warns that the current vaccination rate is too slow to quickly bring the outbreak under control. According to FMD Response SA, vaccinations must take place within six to eight weeks to ensure herd immunity and limit further spread of the virus.