The Integrity Network has called on the South African government to take decisive steps against the Pakistani-owned shops in the townships and the stronger regulations against Pakistani nationals receiving visas into South Africa.
The NGO has joined resounding protests against foreign-owned shops. It has called on the Department of Health to “stop the deaths of our children”.
“We cannot sit by and watch our children and elders perish. The number of people dying are higher than reported but for the longest time, our people did not know that the foreign-owned shops were killing our people. It is now clear. We have seen evidence of it. It is time to stop the chemical violence.”
This comes after the National Department of Health yesterday said a chemical agent could be behind the series of food poisoning incidents.
Environmental inspectors and others began their work in Naledi, Soweto, yesterday to identify the chemical agent. Six children in Naledi died of suspected food poisoning after consuming snacks allegedly bought from a spaza shop in the area.
There have been other cases of alleged food poisoning involving snacks bought from foreign-owned spaza shops. The incidents have sparked widespread outrage and led to communities shutting down spaza shops in Gauteng and destroying their supplies.
Spokesperson for the National Department of Health, Foster Mohale, said various authorities and departments had become involved, including the SAPS; and metros of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, which deployed their environmental inspectors. The Environmental Directorate of the National Department of Health had also sent health inspectors to check compliance with health regulations.
The Department of Agriculture had also sent in their officials to check if the problem might not be emanating from produce or the lack of compliance with some of their production regulations.The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has also deployed senior officials to investigate the possibility of a breach of consumer protection regulations.Mohale explained that it was decided that all the investigations involving various institutions and bodies should be co-ordinated by the Department of Health.
He said Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi had also brought in the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, which played a key role during the listeriosis outbreak a few years ago.
Mohale said at the end of a careful analysis by all bodies, the multi-sectoral teams concluded that the country was dealing with a chemical agent that must be identified as a matter of urgency. “A plan has subsequently been hatched to mount a systemic search for the agent causing this malady.”
Meanwhile, as several spaza shops owned by illegal foreigners remained shut, local business leaders urged Gauteng MEC for Economic Development Lebogang Maile, to advocate for the domestic economy, pushing for preferential treatment for local entrepreneurs over their foreign counterparts.
Maile’s visit to Naledi was a component of a larger reaction to the community’s increased anxieties following a string of unfortunate incidents, which included the deaths of six children from illnesses connected to food.
Residents expressed their frustrations over what they perceived as a local economy dominated by foreign nationals, leaving them sidelined in their communities.
“We can’t allow people, whether legal or illegal, to come here, engage in violent activities, and threaten the lives of our people,” Maile stated during his engagement with locals.
He acknowledged that uncontrolled borders contributed significantly to the influx of illegal immigrants, whose presence has received intense scrutiny amid the growing crisis.
Community members spoke out on the urgent need for empowerment and support, calling on the government to mirror the proactive stance taken during the Covid-19 pandemic when initiatives like the Solidarity Fund were implemented.
Business owner Siphiwe Tshabalala called for the government to show more determination in resolving the issue of immigration and dominance of the township economy by undocumented nationals.
“The government can declare this a national disaster. We need the same vigour of GNU to be used on this issue of spaza shops,” Tshabalala pleaded.
Bheki Twala, who is also a business owner, slammed the government for failing local business people, saying: “When we call you, you guys do not respond to us. You tell us to co-ordinate ourselves. We have done that but we are still not recognised. All the solutions to challenges are with us. You can’t design programmes from your office without consulting us.”
Despite the unease, health experts cautioned against jumping to conclusions. Professor Pieter Gouws of Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Food Safety, remarked that while the correlation between spaza shop snacks and child fatalities cannot be entirely dismissed, it is considerably improbable that such products were the direct cause of these deaths.
Attempts to get comment from the Pakistani Embassy were unsuccessful at the time of publication. | ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JONISAYI MAROMO
The Star
siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za | jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za