SOWETAN SAYS | Service delivery can end tragedies

President Cyril Ramaphosa finally gave in to pressure to address the food poisoning crisis that has led to the deaths of 22 children.

Ramaphosa’s government has been lethargic in its response to the crisis until our call and public pressure last week for urgent and effective intervention. 

In his prime-time address on Friday, the president outlined several measures including getting hazardous pesticides off the streets and protecting children from exposure to the substances.

In his address, Ramaphosa acknowledged unregulated use of restricted pesticides in communities has become a growing problem with devastating consequences. His speech underscored that poor waste management, poor environmental health and safety inspections and the use of pesticides were at the heart of the tragedies.

“Rubbish is not collected regularly, streets are not being cleaned, creating conditions for rats and other pests to thrive,” Ramaphosa said. “Often, the poorest communities are the worst affected, and often the cheapest remedies that are used are these highly hazardous substances like Terbufos and Aldicarb.”

Many municipalities do not have the capacity and resources to conduct inspections of businesses and enforce regulations, he added. We have repeatedly highlighted how the dire shortage of health inspectors in the Gauteng metros, for example, is posing a huge risk to public health and safety. The dysfunction in municipalities that have resulted in poor waste collection, filth and environmental degradation is one of our biggest man-made disasters.

Take a place like Alexandra in Johannesburg, for example, where for years now rat infestation has been well documented with often jokes going around on the township rat sizes. The reality of Alexandra is one of neglect where waste and lack of hygiene have become the defining feature of the community with rubbish pilling on street corners and sewerage running down roads. All these attract rodents, which can serve as carriers of disease.

In response to these conditions’ communities and shop owners, as Ramaphosa highlighted, often go for the cheapest remedies that pose a danger to vulnerable children. Ramaphosa must push the institutions including the local government that he mentioned in his speech to ensure these tragedies never happen again under his watch. We will be there to monitor that he keeps his word on every promise he made on Friday.