Stakeholders in the west call for stricter spaza regulations
Over 400 cases of food poisoning have been recorded nationwide in recent weeks and so far 23 children have lost their lives.
Residents in the west of Pretoria have joined the call for tighter restrictions on spaza shops after nationwide reports of food poisoning cases.
Tshwane Health this week vowed to increase inspections of food retailers and improve supply chain security following an increase of counterfeit food goods in the metro.
MMC for Health, Tshegofatso Mashabela, said the department will increase inspections of food retailers, and collaborate with local law enforcement to disrupt and dismantle criminal operations involved in the counterfeit food trade.
Mashabela said the metro was gravely concerned regarding the crisis of counterfeit food, which poses a public health threat.
The Gauteng government also revealed its plans to re-register spaza shops to ensure compliance as the food poisoning crisis has so far claimed the lives of about 23 children and hospitalised many others.
“In communities like Soshanguve, Mamelodi, Olievenhoutbosch, Bronkhorstspruit, Hammanskraal and Atteridgeville, where food insecurity is already a major concern, residents are unwittingly purchasing dangerous goods from convenience shops,” said Mashabela.
“The convenience shop industry has become a vulnerable target for exploitation. Without adequate regulation and oversight, these businesses are open to manipulation by criminal groups seeking to profit from the sale of unsafe food products,” Mashabela added.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said at a media briefing this week that the proposed regulations seek to set out the establishment and operation of these spaza shops, emphasising compliance with essential safety and hygiene standards.
“We have 441 cases that have been reported across the province. Some of the people either were discharged from the hospital, or just showed the symptoms of vomiting, stomach aches, and related issues.” Lesufi.
Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has instructed all schools to suspend the sale of food within and around school premises until further notice.
Rekord reached out to stakeholders in the west to gauge how unregulated spaza shops play a role in their respective areas.
Ward 1 councillor Leon Kruyshaar believes that while the regulations surrounding these stores need to be reviewed, the entire saga is an excuse for justifying xenophobic attacks.
“This is just a theory of my own, but I do believe it’s xenophobic and I wonder what SA citizens will do when they start getting attacked and their shops and businesses ransacked by foreigners, how will they react? If these continued attacks continue, their governments will not stop them from doing the same to SA business people.”
Kruyshaar confirmed that “some of the foreigners are guilty of selling illegal and expired products as I went with the TMPD and Tshwane Health Services”.
“Illegal cigarettes are also being sold and spoiled goods are on the shelves. The law must take its course and deal with all shop owners equally and if they don’t comply with the by-laws of the city, it must be enforced and fines should be issued.
Various spazas have opened around Ward 1 without the necessary consent or applicable approvals from Tshwane relating to health, land use compliance etc. It seems some are more equal than others,” said Kruyshaar.
Chairperson of the civic organisation Concerned Tshwane Residents, Kaygee Kekana said the group is petitioning the police and metro to apply statutory and by-law enforcement upon foreign-owned spazas in their townships of Atteridgeville and Saulsville.
“The presence of these illegal tuckshops has had a negative impact on our communities and we demand their immediate closure. These tuckshops operate without the necessary permits and licences required by the City of Tshwane, which puts them in direct violation of the law,” Kekana said.
“They also do not pay taxes, depriving our government of much-needed revenue. Additionally, these tuckshops have increased the crime rates in our neighbourhoods as they serve as hubs for drug dealing and human trafficking,” Kekana claimed.
Hercules CPF Sector 2 secretary Johan Cloete believes the scrutiny is justified, though would like to see the light shone on his area as well.
“What about these people selling food like mini restaurants, especially on the train tracks on Van Der Hoff Road and street vendors selling chips in front of the Hercules Clinic? What about them? They are out and about, hitting all the spaza shops but what about these people selling cooked food on the train tracks looking like mini restaurants?”
Cloete said as the CPF, they can’t hold a market day at the tracks because it’s not safe to do so. He gives further examples, saying behind the Bougainville Shopping Centre there are several squatters selling food to regular customers.
“If you do stuff like this, then you include everybody. They are selling cooked food on the train tracks, they are selling cooked food in unhealthy places and they are selling stuff in front of the clinic, near the schools, all over but they do nothing about those,” he said.
Chairperson of the Lotus Gardens, Atteridgeville and Saulsville Civic Association (Lasca), Tshepo Mahlangu said the organisation has been teaming up with local law enforcement during compliance inspections in recent weeks.
During a recent raid, Mahlangu along with health inspectors and local law enforcement shut down four spazas allegedly owned by foreign nationals.
“We can’t subject our children to being guinea pigs or some sort of experiment by continually buying from these shops. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, we used to embark on consumer boycotts against our own corner café shop owners. My question is what prevents us from embarking on such campaigns with undocumented spaza shops?”
Mahlangu also asserted that deeper issues needed to be addressed regarding police and community leaders accepting bribes from shop owners to keep operating. He said all the recent spaza operations “are nothing more than politicians trying to save face and that a boycott throughout all townships is needed”.
“We will embark on a consumer boycott programme. We will encourage locals to reclaim and revive the township economy. The government will mess things up if we allow them to pull wool over our eyes by campaigning on this issue,” he said.
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