The recent deaths and hospitalisation of a large number of children who presumably ingested poisonous food from spaza shops and street vendors are indicative of how poorly existing laws and by-laws are being enforced and policed.
Moreover, the problem is quickly expanding beyond the borders of Gauteng and 22 children were recently hospitalised after they presumably ate food bought from street vendors. Similar cases have been reported in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal as well.
The answer is simple: municipal law enforcement should be reinforced with support from the provincial and national governments, while the policing of such informal food outlets should immediately be intensified.
Local health inspectors are missing in action when it comes to street food sales.
While restaurants, chain stores and formal take-away shops have to comply with stringent legislation and regulations to obtain a licence and keep operating.
The reason for this is obvious, to prevent the sale of harmful food to the public. So, it makes no sense that informal traders and vendors are getting a free pass to sell any type of food to the public.
So far, it appears that children are especially vulnerable in this dangerous situation. It is distressing and inexcusable.
The Department of Health announced on 20 October that a chemical agent was most likely the cause of the recent cases of poisoning at schools in Gauteng.
The FF Plus also welcomes the National Institute for Communicable Diseases of South Africa (NICD) stepping in, the deployment of 80 health inspectors, and the active involvement of the police, Agriculture, the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa and environmental inspectors.
What is, however, alarming is that health inspectors apparently need to be trained before they are able to perform their jobs. This shows there has been much ignorance about the quality of fast food.
Naturally, the source of the contaminated food will have to be determined along with other contributing factors, such as expiry dates, refrigeration, hygiene and many more.
Most importantly, harmful food should simply not be sold to the public, and government and its institutions are responsible for seeing to it.
Food sales should be stringently controlled, regulated and policed. To achieve this, properly trained people should be appointed and government should break away from the ANC’s modus operandi of waiting until something breaks or people die before action is taken.
