Some livestock farmers in Niani in Limpopo along the border with Zimbabwe say they are concerned about the dilapidated redline fence and that it is not fixed.

The fence serves as a disease control mechanism to protect livestock from potential diseases.

Farmers say the broken fence makes their livestock susceptible to foot and mouth disease (FMD), as there is no barrier inhibiting contact between livestock and wild animals that carry the disease.

President Cyril Ramaphosa declared foot and mouth disease a national disaster in his State of the Nation speech on Thursday.

The farmers are calling on government to repair the fence.

“Our village is situated close to the river and therefore, many wild animals can get into contact with our livestock and that scares us as our livelihoods depend on us rearing livestock,” says a farmer.

“There was a fence that could separate our area from the other area by the line, which is called the redline. You can see up there that there is a line but there is no fence at all and nothing is being done. You can see all over here the people who were working here at the gate right now, there are no more,” adds another farmer.

Watch | Minister John Steenhuisen oversees the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccination drive in the Western Cape, aimed at containing the #FMD outbreak and strengthening biosecurity to protect livestock and farmers.#StopFMD #ProtectingOurHerd #GovZAUpdates @GCISMedia… pic.twitter.com/IzriRsFULQ

— National Department of Agriculture (@DOAgov_ZA) February 15, 2026

VIDEO | Foot and Mouth | Fallen fences a key driver in spread of disease

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