Picture: Itumeleng English/ Independent Newspapers
KZN’S top politicians are going undercover and will lead the charge against spaza shops who flout health and safety regulations.
As the country grapples with a fatal food poisoning crisis Premier Thami Ntuli yesterday vowed that every spaza shop in “every corner” of the province would be raided and, while they will not be wearing badges or carrying any form of weapon, KwaZulu-Natal MECs would be leading these raids.
Announcing a raft of measures to deal with the several outbreaks of food poisoning, Ntuli admitted that the issue had exposed some of the shortcomings on the part of authorities, especially in monitoring the influx of goods, including food items.
Since the start of September at least 22 children have died of food-borne illnesses and close to 900 cases were reported across all provinces.
While KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng are the most affected, several cases were also reported in Limpopo, the Free State and Mpumalanga.
Ntuli indicated that while the provincial government was conducting inspections, it would also provide financial support to spaza shops by establishing a special purpose vehicle.
“At the executive committee meeting of Wednesday November 27, it was decided that each department should contribute to the fund that will assist spaza shops,” said Ntuli.
He added that it was crucial to assist such entities as they provided economic opportunities and drove the rural and township economies in the process.
The fund is expected to be made up of millions of rands and come into operation in April next year.
While the fund’s value and other details about it remain sketchy at the moment, it is likely to fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism.
Ntuli has given the assurance that everything would be done to prevent the money from being abused.
He said in the raids conducted so far, 99 shops had already been closed and more were likely to follow as the government continued with its clampdown.
The premier admitted that they were shocked by some of the items that were found in shops during the raids, and that this had illustrated why illegal goods were such a profitable industry.
However, he vowed that they would do everything possible to ensure that spaza shops were not selling poisonous items.
“The raids are not an event, but will be an ongoing process,” Ntuli told the media.
At a recent crime combating imbizo, Ntuli led a team of officials and conducted a series of inspections at various outlets in the uThukela District in the northern parts of the province.
The inspections were conducted in informal and small businesses and
were aimed at ensuring compliance with business laws, including licensing, hygiene standards and legal employment practices.
Ntuli described the cases of food poisoning as “a complex problem.” It is estimated that spaza shops contribute millions of rands to the province’s economy by providing jobs to locals.
Meanwhile, as the inspection of spaza shops and their registration process continues, the government has appealed to members of the public not to disturb the registration by blocking certain shop owners from participating in the process.
“We would like to emphasise that the law allows every shop owner who is a legitimate trader and who meets the legal requirements to own a business in the republic to register a business and trade. In processing these applications for registration, the government will make every effort to ensure that account is taken of every legal prescript that allows people to do business in the country,” it said in a statement.
This week eThekwini Municipality said it had received more than 400 applications from spaza shop owners who wanted to register their businesses before the 13 December deadline.
The municipality said that its Business Licensing Department had received 412 new licence applications since mid November following President Cyril Ramaphosa announced measures to regulate spaza shop operations.
The municipality said currently there were 4700 spaza shops on its licensing database.
“The new 412 business licence applications cannot be added to this number yet as the approval process is not automatic,” said municipal spokesperson Gugu Sisilana.
During his recent address to the nation Ramaphosa said that the deaths of the six children in Soweto could be directly attributed to Terbufos, a “highly hazardous” chemical used as a pesticide.
He said it was mainly used to control rats in townships and informal settlements and fingered municipalities for the problem, saying that is was partly a result of poor waste management. “Rubbish is not collected regularly, streets are not being cleaned, creating conditions for rats and other pests to thrive. Often, the poorest communities are the worst affected, and often the cheapest remedies that are used are these highly hazardous substances like Terbufos and Aldicarb,” Ramaphosa said.