Cyril Ramaphosa's overseas trip this week included advocating for Africa to be granted a permanent seat on the UN Security Council (@PresidencyZA/X)
President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the immediate closure of a spaza restaurant linked to the deaths of six children in Naledi, Soweto last month.
This is one of the measures he announced on Friday night to address a series of food contamination incidents that have primarily affected young children in recent weeks, and all spaza shops and other food It includes a requirement that facilities must register with local authorities within 21 days. If we fail, we will close.
“Starting in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, a massive campaign will be carried out door to door to all spaza shops, tuck shops and other informal traders. , the South African Police Service, the National Consumer Council and labor inspectorates,” Ramaphosa said in a live-televised national address. .
He said 890 cases of food poisoning had been reported across all provinces since early September, with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal the worst affected, with “dozens of cases reported in Limpopo, Free State and Mpumalanga.” He said that “incidents” have been reported.
“In the past few weeks alone, food poisoning has claimed the lives of at least 22 of our nation's children,” he added.
The President said the National Institute of Infectious Diseases has proven that the deaths of six children in Naledi, Soweto state in October were directly attributable to the organophosphate chemical terbufos.
Although this harmful insecticide should not be sold for general household use, it is nevertheless recommended that the so-called “It is sold informally as a 'street insecticide',” he said. Samples were taken from 84 spaza shops in the Naledi district, three of which had evidence of Terbufos.
As part of the investigation into Naledi's death, inspectors seized a number of illegal pesticides from the spaza store and also found instances where food was stored together with pesticides and detergents.
“While the investigation is ongoing, it is important to understand that this is not an issue limited to spaza shops and other informal traders,” Ramaphosa said.
“The unregulated use of restricted pesticides in communities has become a serious problem, with devastating consequences. Organophosphates known as kab and galefilimi are commonly sold by street vendors and hawkers.
Aldicarb has been banned in South Africa since 2016.
Prime Minister Ramaphosa said violators identified in the inspection of all food handlers and manufacturers will be investigated and prosecuted. Violating businesses and stores will be shut down if they are linked to poisoning incidents or are found to be illegally stocking dangerous chemicals.
Other interventions include protecting children from exposure to harmful substances, including interventions by the national basic education department and the state education department.
“By the start of the new school year, the Ministry of Basic Education and school governing bodies, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, will review and update guidelines for schools on the management of food suppliers to public schools.” This includes: This includes tuck shops operating in schools,” Mr Ramaphosa said.
“This includes health, safety and hygiene regulations, identification of hazardous products and regulations applicable to hazardous products for local communities, spaza shops, tuck shops, informal traders and other retailers. , and complemented by a public education campaign on the legal implications.”
The Gauteng Department of Education last week banned the sale of food around schools “to protect people's health and well-being”. [our] It called on schools and school governing bodies to monitor and regulate vendors, tuck shops and other outlets selling food to learners.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said there have been 441 food contamination incidents in the province since January, resulting in 23 deaths. The majority of these deaths involve children between the ages of 6 and 10, with the highest number of cases reported in Ekurhuleni.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli said in the early hours of Friday that the government was conducting regular inspections of spaza stores to prevent illegal food smuggling following incidents of food contamination in the province, mainly affecting learners. He said he would monitor the border to see if there were any.
“A link has been made between spaza stores and this food poisoning crisis, with the majority falling ill in clusters after consuming products from the same vendor. Concerns have also been raised regarding the packaging of the food. ” said Ntuli.
Mr Ntuli said the state government had recently received reports of suspected food poisoning in Kambana area of Umzumbe in Ugu district, where three children had died and a grandmother had been hospitalized.
“The actual cause of death has not yet been confirmed through post-mortem results, but it is believed that the victims became ill due to food poisoning and died. The three victims were children aged 2, 6 and 11. ” he said.
This week, 59 children from a primary school in Giyani, Limpopo province, were also taken to hospital after being “fed porridge and milk in a school nutrition program, but preliminary reports suggest they were also eating fatty cakes and sweets.” This was announced by the Limpopo Education Department. in a statement Thursday.
Another intervention aimed at preventing future outbreaks will address the scourge of rat infestations in towns and informal settlements, where residents rely on the use of dangerous chemicals, Prime Minister Ramaphosa said in a speech on Friday. He said this was a cleanup activity by the local government to deal with the situation.
“The problem of rat infestation is caused by inadequate waste management in some municipalities. Garbage is not collected regularly and roads are not cleaned, allowing rats and other pests to breed. “We have the environment to do that,” he says.
“The poorest communities are often the worst affected, and the cheapest treatments used are often very dangerous substances like terbufos or aldicarb.”
He said the Department of Agriculture was also in the process of reviewing and updating all relevant legislation regarding the regulation and licensing of pesticides for use in South Africa.
