In a bid to deal with the growing food poisoning crisis, the government has proposed that all spaza shops be re-registered to ensure compliance with South African laws. As a result, the department of cooperative governance published new draft standard by-laws last week that must be adopted by all municipalities to regulate the operations of spaza shops.
This is a welcome intervention given the scale of the problem in recent months that has led to the deaths of 23 children in Gauteng, according to authorities. The problem, however, does not lie with legislation but enforcement of existing laws such as municipal bylaws and environmental health and safety regulations. In Gauteng, for example, the dire shortage of health inspectors has been well-documented, with officials in the major metros admitting their capacity to be below national standards.
The City of Tshwane has the highest shortage of inspectors, with one inspector for every 60,000 people in the metro. Last month, we reported that this has resulted in the metro not conducting enough inspections a year, according to its norms and standards.
In Ekurhuleni, there are 94 inspectors available to the population of 4.2-million or a ratio of one inspector for every 44,000 people. In Joburg, there are 221 inspectors with one inspector servicing 27,000 people.
What these numbers highlight is a dire lack of capacity to enforce existing municipal bylaws rather than a lack of regulations. It is therefore not surprising to find food being sold in unhygienic conditions in some shops. This is because there have been no consequences for those who flagrantly disregard our laws meant to protect the public from harm.
The drive by authorities, including Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, to increase inspections and raids on shops to ensure compliance with food safety is commendable. The real test will be on its sustainability and consistency in ensuring all our safety.
It was further encouraging to hear of a plan to clamp down on the selling of organophosphate – a toxic chemical found in rat poison – which has been linked to some of the children’s deaths in Gauteng. Similar chemicals used as pesticides and found to have adverse outcomes for children have been banned for domestic use in other countries.
It’s high time we followed suit to protect our children from harm.
SowetanLIVE
SOWETAN SAYS | Improve capacity for spaza laws
In a bid to deal with the growing food poisoning crisis, the government has proposed that all spaza shops be re-registered to ensure compliance with South African laws. As a result, the department of cooperative governance published new draft standard by-laws last week that must be adopted by all municipalities to regulate the operations of spaza shops.
This is a welcome intervention given the scale of the problem in recent months that has led to the deaths of 23 children in Gauteng, according to authorities. The problem, however, does not lie with legislation but enforcement of existing laws such as municipal bylaws and environmental health and safety regulations. In Gauteng, for example, the dire shortage of health inspectors has been well-documented, with officials in the major metros admitting their capacity to be below national standards.
The City of Tshwane has the highest shortage of inspectors, with one inspector for every 60,000 people in the metro. Last month, we reported that this has resulted in the metro not conducting enough inspections a year, according to its norms and standards.
In Ekurhuleni, there are 94 inspectors available to the population of 4.2-million or a ratio of one inspector for every 44,000 people. In Joburg, there are 221 inspectors with one inspector servicing 27,000 people.
What these numbers highlight is a dire lack of capacity to enforce existing municipal bylaws rather than a lack of regulations. It is therefore not surprising to find food being sold in unhygienic conditions in some shops. This is because there have been no consequences for those who flagrantly disregard our laws meant to protect the public from harm.
The drive by authorities, including Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, to increase inspections and raids on shops to ensure compliance with food safety is commendable. The real test will be on its sustainability and consistency in ensuring all our safety.
It was further encouraging to hear of a plan to clamp down on the selling of organophosphate – a toxic chemical found in rat poison – which has been linked to some of the children’s deaths in Gauteng. Similar chemicals used as pesticides and found to have adverse outcomes for children have been banned for domestic use in other countries.
It’s high time we followed suit to protect our children from harm.
SowetanLIVE
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