CALLS for spaza shops to be regulated and a more robust stance in dealing with illegal immigration are growing louder in KwaZulu-Natal with Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli leading the charge for stringent measures to be put in place to monitor the boarders and where the tuckshops are sourcing their food products.

This comes as fears grow amid an increasing number of people dying or getting hospitalised because of consuming ‘poisonous foods’ across the country. Ntuli said the Department of Health has already activated the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) to trace and examine the sources of the poisoned foodstuffs and to make recommendations.

As of October, over 200 children had reportedly fallen sick after eating suspected contaminated food and snacks, and 17 children lost their lives across the country. Ntuli said that in KZN, a family in the Cambana area of uMzumbe, Ugu District, is mourning the loss of their three children who were hospitalised along with their grandmother after allegedly consuming poisonous food bought from a local spaza shop.

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“Even though postmortem results are yet to confirm the actual cause of death, it is alleged that the victims fell ill and passed away due to food poisoning. The three victims were children aged two, six, and 11 years old. Even the dog that ate the food also passed away,” said Ntuli.

He said the owners of spaza shops have a responsibility to the communities that they serve and have raised issues with many of the tuckshops in townships which are owned by illegal immigrants. He highlighted the recent campaign to root out illegal immigrants in the province which unearthed shocking scenes.

“Babies are being made inside these spaza shops,” said Ntuli. “There are no food safety practices in place at these shops. They are living there and bathing inside the shops where they are selling the food. This leads to contamination and rodents and the need for pest control,” said Ntuli.

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According to reports, organophosphate is suspected to have caused the deaths reported in relation to the alleged poisonous foods. Organophosphate is used in pesticides. “The state must protect the vulnerable. This is a crisis, and if we fail to arrest it now, we will be in trouble,” said Ntuli.

On November 4, the Standard Draft By-laws for Township Economies were gazetted by the Minister of COGTA, Velenkosini Hlabisa. National government is treating the issue as a national security threat, with the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure now leading the response. President Cyril Ramaphosa will soon address the nation on the rising incidents of suspected food poisoning in the country.

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