Sedibeng District SAPS Deputy Commissioner Brigadier Mbangwa Nkhwashu implored members of the community to refrain from taking the law into their own hands. Saying that the community should give way for the relevant authorities to deal with the non compliance of foreign owned spaza shops.
Nkhwashu together with Colonel Stofina Mofokeng lead a community engagement in Zone 17 Sebokeng. During the engagement, residents complained about the level of crime in their ward, saying that there was not enough police visibility. They said that the rate of criminality in the area was alarming.
Residents further raised concerns about the safety of food sold at local spaza shops, adding that that they feared for their own safety and that of their kids as a result of recent incidents that had resulted in the deaths of children.
Nkhwashu pleaded with community members to not take matters into their own hands but rather give the police and Health Inspectors a chance to do their job.
Nkwashu promised to arrest any person who is not in possession of any form of documentation that allows them to be in South Africa, any person harboring illegal immigrants and any person who is employing illegal immigrants.
In response to recent cases of food-borne poisoning, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi revealed that 23 people have died in Gauteng after consuming food from spaza shops, stating that the majority of the deaths have been children between the ages of six and nine.
Lesufi announced a ban on the sale of terbufos at spaza shops and informal vendors, saying those seeking authorisation to use it would have to go through the provincial agriculture department.
Lesufi said he met his MECs, mayors, MMCs, speakers and municipal managers to discuss the province’s approach, and they had agreed that addressing the issues required a comprehensive approach involving stricter regulations, better enforcement of existing laws and increased public awareness about the potential dangers associated with purchasing from unregulated spaza shops and informal traders.
