The ANC has called on authorities to prioritise concerns over the sale of alleged illicit fake and expired consumables in township spaza shops.

In a statement on Wednesday, the ruling party said it was concerned about the sale of such consumable goods as they could raise health concerns, noting that the growing public distress could also lead to (xenophobic) violence.

“The ANC calls on the relevant authorities such as the National Consumer Commission, the department of health and municipal authorities to do on-spot investigations with health inspectors and remove fake products and expired goods,” said the ANC.

"We [also] call on the people not to take the law into their own hands, and further encourage them to report such incidences to relevant authorities."

The ruling party's statement comes after videos of these products started circulating on social media platforms.In the videos, it is alleged that the products are being sold at foreign-owned shops in some townships including Soweto, south of Johannesburg and Tembisa in Ekurhuleni.

“We commend municipalities like Ekurhuleni metro where municipal officials have started with the campaign of removing harmful products from the shelves. We urge other municipalities to do the same as the sale of illicit food products is not only harmful but also amounts to an act of serious criminality which may lead to the loss of life. Act if there are people found to be knowingly and deliberately selling harmful, expired and rotten food to our people.”

It was reported that Coca-Cola, one of the products named in the videos, had said they had not received any complaints about its products. “There have been recent allegations of counterfeit Coca-Cola products appearing in South Africa. Coca-Cola takes every consumer concern seriously and we have procedures in place designed to respond to any matter relating to our products‚” the company said.