Farmers have welcomed the investigation and the temporary suspension of the Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) acting CEO in connection with inflated foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine costs.
Minister of Agriculture Willie Aucamp announced the precautionary suspension of acting CEO Dr Jacob Modumo on Friday following information about allegations of serious misconduct relating to the pricing of FMD vaccines.
“The board, after considering the matter, gave the acting CEO notice of their intention to suspend him and as per the OBP’s policy, has afforded him five days to provide reasons why he should not be suspended,” Aucamp said in a statement.
Should these reasons be insufficient, the suspension will remain in place pending an independent investigation into the allegations.
Aucamp said OBP should not unduly profit from the tragedy of FMD facing South Africa’s farmers.
“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,” he said.
TLU SA chair Bennie van Zyl said from the very beginning, there was significant unease throughout the sector about the handling and pricing of the FMD vaccines.
“Dr David Gerber, founder and CEO of Dunevax Biotech, was able to import and distribute the vaccine at R45 per dose, plus VAT. Then, the department stepped in and manipulated the situation so that only they could distribute it through Onderstepoort,” Van Zyl said.
“Consequently, they added a substantial markup, suddenly bringing the cost to R65. When we asked for the reason behind the higher price, they claimed they were conducting follow-ups and quality checks – tasks that private importers were already performing.”
Van Zyl said TLU and the farmers had many questions about the nearly six million vaccines that remain unaccounted for.
Southern Africa Agricultural Initiative board chair Theo de Jager has welcomed the disciplinary action against the OBP CEO and the investigation into FMD vaccine pricing.
De Jager said it was high time that a thorough investigation be conducted into possible unlawful profiteering through transactions between state entities, state-owned enterprises and national and provincial government departments.
“Farmers expect action to be taken against decision-makers in the state where wrongdoing is established and that any profits found to have been unlawfully obtained be recovered and used to help alleviate the enormous financial burden that the FMD crisis has placed on farmers,” De Jager said.
DA spokesperson on agriculture Desiree van der Walt said the minister’s swift intervention in response to serious allegations should be commended.
“Farmers are battling one of the country’s worst FMD outbreaks and cannot afford to be burdened by potentially exorbitant vaccine markups,” she said.
