South African Government urged to ban live exports by sea and introduce strict legislation to ensure high animal welfare on long haul truck exports.

Today, 14 June, marks the tenth annual Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day, and this year, citizens and NGOs across the globe will be raising awareness of the appalling conditions faced by millions of farmed animals each year on long sea journeys.

Events will be taking place across the globe from England and Ireland to Australia and Ecuador, including port gatherings, cinema screenings and marches to parliament. In South Africa, citizens and NGOs are calling on the government to implement strict legislation on live exports and a complete ban on live exports by sea. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has drafted regulations on live exports of animals and the release for public comment is imminent.

Every year, globally, millions of live animals – including calves, sheep, goats and pigs – are transported by land and sea on journeys, some lasting up to several weeks where they are vulnerable to immense suffering. They can face extreme conditions such as overcrowding, exhaustion, dehydration, pain, and stress, often with little or no legal protection for their welfare.

In addition, disasters can strike onboard; fires, ship sinkings, disease outbreaks, and trade route blockages, resulting in dire consequences causing thousands of casualties. Just weeks ago, it was reported that a ship transporting live animals ran aground near Yemen, resulting in the deaths of 160 sheep.

Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day was first launched in 2016, to mark the anniversary of 13,000 sheep who tragically lost their lives during a long sea journey from Romania to Somalia in 2015.

Since then, a number of countries have introduced bans on the trade. Great Britain introduced a ban on live exports for fattening and slaughter in 2024, and Australia is phasing out live sheep exports by sea by 2028. Several European countries have acted, including Luxembourg in 2022, which banned exports to regions beyond the EU. In 2023, Germany announced that it would withdraw live exports certificates for trade outside of the EU.

Despite this progress, many more countries continue the trade, transporting live animals hundreds or even thousands of kilometres across oceans. The most recent FAO data shows that in 2023 South Africa exported up to 24,000 cattle, sheep and goats for slaughter or fattening on journeys that involved a sea crossing to countries including Mauritius and Kuwait.

South Africa is not only exporting live animals for fattening and slaughter but is enabling other countries to do so on a larger scale. The country’s location makes it a key hub for vessels to stop en route to other destinations. This issue came to the fore in February 2024, when the Al Kuwait ship carrying 19,000 cattle from Brazil stopped in Cape Town on its way to Iraq, which caused a stench impacting the city’s residents. The NSPCA described the conditions onboard as "abhorrent", including an "extreme build-up of faeces and urine".

The South African government is in the process of revising legislation relating to facilitating this awful trade. NGOs are calling on the public to submit their comments on the legislation when they are released for comment.

Alexis Olds, Head of Southern Africa at Compassion in World Farming, said:

When travelling by sea animals face untold suffering, from hunger and thirst, to fear, distress and exhaustion often over many days. And there are precious few laws to protect them. The South African government must act to end this cruelty – it should follow the example set by countries such as Great Britain and Australia which have or are taking steps to ban it.

On this tenth Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day we are raising awareness of the scale and impact of these journeys from hell, and South Africa’s role in enabling the trade to continue. We urge supporters to sign up to the Stop Live Export mailing list so they can be the first to know when the government announces its new transport legislation – and let it know that we strongly believe that the live export trade should be consigned to the history books.

See here for more information about Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day 2025.

Calls for South Africa to stop animal suffering this Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day