The premier opened his address in November 10 by mentioned that in recent weeks, the province has been experiencing outbreaks of food borne illnesses that have led to young children losing their lives and others being hospitalised and treated for food borne illnesses.
He mentioned that in all cases, children that have fallen victim and lost their lives due to consumed snacks that they purchased in spaza shops and vendors around their schools.
“Since January this year, a total number of food contamination incidences stands at 441, and 23 deaths.
“The majority of the cases involve children between the ages six and 10 years old.
“Ekurhuleni has reported the highest number of incidences, followed by West Rand,” said Lesufi
He highlighted that majority of deaths were reported from Johannesburg, followed by
Ekurhuleni.
Adding that seven postmortem results out of the 19 deaths tested positive for organophosphate, saying a reporting template is being developed to be utilised by hospitals, schools, community health care centres to ensure that they have accurate reporting in this regard.
Lesufi expressed sympathy and extended condolences to the families that have lost their precious children.
“I met with Members of Executive Council, Executive Mayors, Members of Mayoral Council, Speakers, Chief Whips, Heads of Department as well as Municipal Managers to discuss the provincial approach on the implementation of by-laws and regulations for operation of spaza shops in our province.
“We all agreed that addressing these issues requires 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,” he said.
Lesufi said all councils across municipalities will pass the new by-laws by national
department of COGTA which explain how to register a business and conduct business to ensure a uniform approach.
“We are going to start weekly stakeholder engagement and consultations. We are further starting the process of re-registration of spaza shops,” he added.
He elaborated to say municipalities have a crucial role in ensuring the enforcement of by-laws.
The meeting further recommended that municipalities, in addition to enforcing by-laws, they must implement a comprehensive strategy which will include education and training for spaza shop owners and staff on food safety practices.
The training will include proper food handling, storage, and cooking techniques to avoid unexpected occurrences.
In a statement released recently, it mentioned that municipalities are expected to establish a system for regular health inspections by local health authorities to ensure compliance with food safety regulations.
The system must also provide feedback and support to help shops improve.
In addition, they must launch community awareness campaigns to educate customers about food safety, signs of spoilage, and how to report unsafe practices.
