Recent reports of children dying, some falling ill and being hospitalised after eating suspected contaminated chips, biscuits, drinks from local spaza shops, have sparked widespread fear and concern.
According to government, there have been 890 reported cases of food-borne illnesses across the country, with Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Free State, and Mpumalanga the hardest hit and the lives of at least 22 children claimed.
Six children died in a major food-borne case in Naledi in Soweto last month, the youngest of them only 6 years old.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases established that the deaths of the six children in Naledi can be directly attributed to a highly hazardous chemical used as a pesticide known as Terbufos.
But these incidents are not only recent, they have been there for a while. We are a nation that kills its generation and future leaders it seems.
We have municipalities that are regulators of the spaza shops, but do they know how many spaza shops we have or are they happy to just have them there?
What decisions are the municipalities of the health departments taking to stop the killing of our children? Where is the government in this?
Okay government aside, where are we as citizens, parents and patriots that we always call ourselves?
I am told that long before I was born when things were going wrong in any community, women used to shout out by saying, Zemka iinkomo magwala ndini, basically meaning “There goes your heritage, you cowards”.
Now our children are dying in front of us. For us to stand up, what must really happen?
Counterfeits goods from foreign countries are all over the place and we are smiling. Businesses open willy-nilly in our areas, and we smile.
The government has been blowing hot air about its programmes to uplift the township economy – the government has these programmes but when is that applied?
We are in a crisis. Zemka iinkomo magwala ndini. We need justice for the country’s children.
• On Friday November 15, president Cyril Ramaphosa announced measures to address the recurring food-borne illnesses that have claimed the lives of at least 22 children across the country. These include the immediate closure of spaza shops implicated in the deaths and stricter regulations to protect communities.
To ensure compliance, all spaza shops and food-handling facilities must register with their respective municipalities within 21 days – any shop that is not registered within 21 days and does not meet all health standards and requirements will be closed.
The Department of Agriculture is also in the process of reviewing and updating all relevant legislation to the regulation and authorisation of agricultural pesticides for use in South Africa.
Meanwhile, the City’s Environmental Health Service was part of an integrated operation at a residential premises in Mfuleni on Wednesday November 13, following a tip-off from a member of the public.
An inspection of the makeshift butchery at the premises, found that sausage was being processed and packaged in unsanitary conditions.
The City said contrary to footage circulating on social media alleging that dog food was being used to produce the sausage, they found no evidence of dog food on the scene.
The two owners of the makeshift butchery and their employees made a second appearance in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The owners, aged 34 and 36, both Somali nationals and their employees, two Malawian nationals and a Somalian national, face an array of charges which include contravention of the Food Stuff and Cosmetics Act 54 of 1972 and contravention of the Immigration Act.
The case has been adjourned to Monday November 25.
Residents who have health-related concerns or complaints about businesses can contact their local City Environmental Health Office for assistance via their local clinic or the City’s Technical Operations Centre on 0860 103 089.
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