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By Amy Musgrave
President Cyril Ramaphosa will give more details on how the government plans to deal with the contamination of food at spaza shops soon.
A government proclamation that focuses on the regulation and licensing of spaza shops has already being issued, according to the president.
He was speaking at a presidential imbizo in eThekwini.
This follows nearly 20 children dying and over a thousand being hospitalised after eating contaminated food from spaza shops,
On Friday, the Gauteng government already announced that spaza shops in and around schools would be shut down. They would have to reapply to operate and follow strict guidelines in the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act.
Ramaphosa said the matter was being addressed at the highest level.
“Much of this is happening as a result of reckless and negligent actions on the part of unscrupulous spaza shops. They are keeping dangerous chemicals on the premises where they are selling food and the police have already arrested some people in this regard,” he revealed.
The president said he had also instructed Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen to conduct research these on these chemicals, many of which were used as pesticides, and Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi had requested agencies to test the chemicals from a health point of view.
He said Police Minister Senzo Mchunu was also “seized with this matter” and the police were working around the clock to get to bottom of the contamination.
“Now all these matters are going to be fully addressed this coming week and I will then be able to make a statement on how we are going to deal with this matter to enable us to ensure that no further children die needlessly in our country
“I have directed that I should get reports as soon as possible so that we can take action to prevent further deaths,” Ramaphosa said
He would issue a directive on the matter soon.
INSIDE EDUCATION