President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to call an emergency family meeting to address the scourge of food poisoning cases in South Africa, allegedly due to mismanagement of items in Spaza shops. On Wednesday Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said a date that has yet to be confirmed, however, the government was deeply focused to resolve the rising number of Spaza-related deaths. According to Xinhua newspaper authorities in Gauteng announced new by-laws to regulate tuckshops after the province reported 441 suspected food poisoning cases, resulting in the deaths of 23 children since January.
Some South Africans blame the government for its failure to regulate the Spaza shops and also that the food products were not safe for consumption.
Ntshavheni said the cabinet was briefed about the crisis and extended her condolences to the families of those who lost their lives due to food-borne illnesses. The tragic deaths were reported in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Free State. Patriotic Alliance leader and Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie called for closure of spaza shops and the deportation of illegal immigrants while ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has urged government to close all unregistered spaza winkels (shops), and force them to register to weed out the illegal ones. Ntshavheni would not respond to Mbalula’s statement, saying Ramaphosa will brief the nation. She maintained that the government would intervene to put the matter to rest. “The Department of Health has activated the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) to trace and examine the source of the poisoning of food and make recommendations.
The government, particularly the health department should have intervened in this matter a long time ago. Or rather if they had noticed something amiss, delegated the matter to the provincial governments and the municipalities. It is their role to conduct health inspections of local businesses at those levels and collect data on them. The national government and even officials in the presidency as well as the Health Department can review it. If they notice anything unusual or suspicious, they can refer back to the provincial and regional levels. Delegation of tasks should be the key. The loss of young life however is tragic. This is the time for those whose job it was to inspect the products of spaza shops to resign. Heads should roll. Deaths in five of the nine provinces that could have been avoided have occurred. Pretoria needs to take some concrete action.
But it needs to learn from this as well.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will soon address the nation on the government’s response to recent foodborne illnesses and fatalities. The incidents have claimed several lives, including children, and hospitalised many in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. The presidency minister, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, confirmed the upcoming address during a post-cabinet briefing in Cape Town on Wednesday. “The President will outline interventions aimed at addressing this tragic situation,” she said. The Department of Health has tasked the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) with tracing and identifying the source of the contamination. Health officials revealed that Terbufos, a highly toxic organophosphate, caused the deaths of six children in Naledi, Soweto. The children reportedly consumed snacks bought from a local spaza shop. In response, Ntshavheni explained that medical teams are equipped with atropine injections, an antidote for organophosphate poisoning, to treat any new cases.
“We are working swiftly to prevent further loss of life,” she added.
The President has to not only speak about his administration’s response but also apologise for the slow response and express regret. Regret for what could easily have been preventable. Learning from the mistakes of your policies and conduct in government business should be paramount in national leadership. Health inspections of Spaza shops should be a weekly routine for municipalities. The information they gathered from the shops concerning their stocks could then be relayed back to the provincial governments who would then refer the most important data to the National Health Department. It should be the role of local and municipal government levels to collect data. It will be interesting to see what interventions the President has proposed in terms of rectifying the current situation. There is not much the officials of National government can do now. Other than learn from their failures.
The doctors should now do their best to prevent further loss of life.
To address broader issues, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, supported by the Department of Small Business Development, has introduced the Standard Draft By-laws for Township Economies. These by-laws aim to promote inclusive local economies and tackle illegal township business operations. Questions regarding deploying the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to spaza shops were dismissed. Ntshavheni clarified that the Justice, Crime Prevention, and Security Cluster, which oversees NATJOINTS operations, will manage the crisis. “Ministerial committees are finalising their work, and a special Cabinet meeting may be convened to solidify our approach,” she said. “The President’s address will follow once all necessary measures are in place.” The Joint Planning Committee for Security will meet later today to finalise preparations for the address, which could occur as early as this week.
The Standard Draft By-Laws for Township Economies is an interesting motion by the national government. Although still a draft copy it does review local administrations’ role in enforcing bylaws. However, Pretoria would have done better to delegate tasks of law enforcement to provincial and local levels along a decentralized process. It should be done under oversight of the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs department in charge of the process. Small businesses need to have their own decentralised associations that govern their interests and responsibilities. The Small Business Development Department needs to support and recommend this. To even suggest that the military should intervene in the Spaza shops food poisoning scandal is a crude and clumsy recommendation. The departments in charge of the police, law enforcement and judicial departments need to take care of this. The President delivered an address in which he stated that the law will be respected and that the Spaza Shops which were the source of the poisonings be closed.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
