KZN municipalities have expressed concerns that limited financial and human resources may hinder their ability to meet the president’s 21-day deadline to register all spaza shops.

In his Friday night address to the nation, President Cyril Ramaphosa gave municipalities 21 days to register spaza shops operating within their boundaries. The directive forms part of the government’s response to a surge in child deaths caused by contaminated food from spaza shops and other outlets.

The KZN government was still working on implementation plans as of yesterday.

The uMgungundlovu District Municipality admitted that registering spaza shops across its seven local councils within 21 days would be challenging.

“It’s a directive from the president, and as the district, we have to ensure that it’s implemented. Also, given that the directive was issued to save lives, we cannot as a district municipality fail to comply. However, we also acknowledge that vast resources would be needed if the timeframes were to be met,” said uMgungundlovu spokesperson Brian Zuma.

Msunduzi Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla echoed these concerns, saying the municipality alone could not meet the deadline.

“However, the good thing is that we won’t be working alone. We will implement the president’s directive jointly with other provincial government departments such as Cogta, the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, and, of course, the uMgungundlovu District Municipality. If we approach the deadline like that, then we can do it within the 21 days,” said Thebolla.

The food contamination crisis emerged amid a national shortage of environmental health practitioners.

DA KZN provincial spokesperson on health Dr Imran Keeka argued that the 21-day target was unattainable given the challenges faced by the provincial Health Department and municipalities.

“If you take that into account and also the number of spaza shops which have to be registered in KZN, then the target is unrealistic. There also needs to be a proper plan in place before implementing the president’s directive because the whole process will open the floodgates for corruption if it were to be rushed.”

While the National Informal Traders Alliance of Southern Africa (Nitasa) welcomed the directive, the organisation warned that the registration process could take up to a year.

Nitasa president Rosheda Muller said: “I do believe the timeframe is really unrealistic. For example, if a spaza shop is registered, all that needs to happen is that the health inspector or the municipal officials need to go check up if the health conditions and compliance are in place.”