Dewald Olivier, CEO of Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS), delivered a key address at the GCCA Africa Conference, where he outlined the critical role RMIS plays in managing the red meat value chain in South Africa. This is part three of a five-part series.
The path forward, according to Olivier, hinges on collaboration, accountability and innovation. Industry and government must form robust partnerships to mitigate the impact of FMD, open new markets, and strengthen biosecurity. RMIS is taking a proactive role in driving this transformation across the entire value chain.
“This is our industry. We must own it, lead it and protect it together.”
South Africa’s red meat industry is grappling with multiple challenges – but perhaps none as disruptive and pressing as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). With recurring outbreaks, growing economic consequences, and increasingly complex trade barriers, Dewald Olivier, CEO of Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS), believes the time has come for a more logical, industry-led and collaborative approach.
“The reality is this, costs are rising, income is stagnant, and the entire value chain is often brought to a halt by the way we manage disease outbreaks,” Olivier said.
Understanding DMAs
When an outbreak occurs outside of a feedlot – often among free-roaming animals – government responds by declaring Disease Management Areas (DMAs). Within these zones, all animal movement is restricted, even for herds that test negative. While such protocols are critical for containment, they can have devastating effects on trade, logistics and farmer livelihoods.
There are currently two key strategies in disease response:
- Vaccinate to live – applied mostly in the dairy industry, where the priority is keeping animals alive and producing. This approach prevents complications like mastitis, a painful infection of the udder.
- Vaccinate to slaughter – favoured in the red meat industry. Animals are vaccinated, then processed after a 14-day holding period. Heads and feet are either cooked or incinerated to comply with safety regulations.
“We’ve developed infrastructure to process these parts as food, because with the pressure on food security, no part of the animal should go to waste if it can be rendered safe and usable,” Olivier added.
Building a traceability and biosecurity ecosystem
To strengthen disease management, RMIS has developed an integrated traceability and disease surveillance platform. Working closely with state veterinarians, the system tracks disease outbreaks and animal movement across the country in near real time. A notable example is the KZN region, currently a major hotspot for FMD.
The traceability system overlays disease status onto a digital map of South Africa, highlighting:
- Red areas for confirmed cases
- Orange areas for pending test results
Crucially, this system runs independently of international protocols like those of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE). “We don’t wait for WOAH approval before alerting stakeholders,” Olivier stated. “The risk of spreading disease is far greater than the risk of protocol non-compliance.”