The South African President, Cyril Ramophasa on Friday, has addressed the nation over rise in reported food-borne illnesses and deaths, mostly in children across the country.
According to him, “I wish to address you this evening on matter that has deeply saddened and distressed our nation. Across South Africa, there has been a rise in reported cases of food-borne illnesses and deaths.
“A number of people are becoming severely ill and even dying after eating contaminated food. It has been found that some of the food items would have been purchased from spaza shops and street vendors”.
The President revealed that since the beginning of September 2024, there have been a total of 890 reported incidents of food-borne illnesses across all provinces. “Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal have been the most affected, with Limpopo, Free State and Mpumalanga also recording dozens of incidents.
“Over the last few weeks alone, food-borne illnesses have claimed the lives of at least 22 of our nation’s children. Last month there was a major food-borne incident in Naledi in Soweto in which six children died. Youngest of these children was just six years old”, he confirmed.
The President who said few words can adequately convey the sadness and the pain the nation is going through, expressed his deeply thought and prayer to those families who is going through the pain and the anguish of losing their children.He said, “Losing a child is something no parent should ever have to endure. The young children who died weren’t just children of their families. They were our children. Our people have every right to be upset and to be angry in the face of such tragedies”.
Ramaphosa called for unity at a time like this, he said, “we need to unite as a country and work together to end these deaths. We must do what it takes to make sure such tragedies never happen again.
The President made it known that as soon as the deaths occurred, multidisciplinary teams in government were activated to address these incidents which includes detectives from the Police Service, health officials, environmental inspectors, Department of Agriculture officials and officials from the National Consumer Commission.
He explained that after cabinet met on three occasions to receive reports from National Institute for Communicable Diseases who was requested to conduct scientific tests and has established that the deaths of the six children in Naledi, Soweto can be directly attributed to a highly hazardous chemical used as a pesticide known as “Terbufos”.According to him, “Terbufos can have serious health effects, even at low levels of exposure. It is an organophosphate chemical that is registered in S’Africa for agricultural use. It is not allowed to be sold for general household use.
“However, Terbufos is being informally sold as a so-called ‘street pesticide’ for domestic use in townships and informal settlements to control rats. Samples were taken from 84 spaza shops in the Naledi area.
Of these, three had evidence of Terbufos. After stringent testing, a chip packet found on one of the children who had died had traces of Terbufos on both the inside and the outside of the packet.
“As part of the investigation into the Naledi deaths, inspectors confiscated a number of illegal pesticides from spaza shops. They found instances where food was being stored alongside pesticides and detergents.“It was also found that these spaza shops lacked proper safe food storage, hand and dishwashing facilities, increasing likelihood of food contamination. Even as investigation ongoing, it is critical to understand that this isn’t a problem confined to spaza shops and other informal traders.
“The unregulated use of restricted pesticides in communities become a growing problem, with devastating consequences. In many townships another chemical, Aldicarb, and an organophosphate known as Galephirimi are commonly sold by street vendors and hawkers to control rat infestations.
“Aldicarb has been banned for use in South Africa since 2016. Last year, three children in Ekurhuleni and three children in Soweto died after exposure to Aldicarb, the President narrated.
In responding to these tragedies, Ramaphosa said there’s need to understand the cause of this challenge in communities, saying one of the reasons that people use pesticides is to deal with rat infestation, adding that the problem of rat infestation is due in part to poor waste management in several municipalities.“Rubbish is not collected regularly, streets are not being cleaned, creating conditions for rats and other pests to thrive. Often, poorest communities are the worst affected, and often the cheapest remedies that are used are these highly hazardous substances like Terbufos and Aldicarb.
“Another challenge is that responsibility for environmental health that should happen in our communities is the responsibility of local government. Many municipalities don’t have capacity, resources to conduct inspections of these businesses and enforce regulations”.
He said his government have decided to take the following interventions: to get hazardous pesticides off the street, to protect children from exposure to these substances and thirdly to prevent future outbreaks.
While these following measures will be implemented with immediate effect. “To get hazardous pesticides off the street: The spaza shops which have been implicated in the deaths of children will be closed with immediate effect.
“All spaza shops and other food handling facilities must be registered within the municipalities in which they operate within 21 days from today. Any shop that is not registered within 21 days and does not meet all health standards and requirements will be closed.“The South African Police Service and other law enforcement agencies will be required to investigate, arrest and prosecute offenders. This will involve close cooperation with all registered manufacturers and suppliers.
“Integrated multidisciplinary inspection teams’ll undertake compliance inspections of food handling facilities, manufacturers, distributors, wholesaler and retailers. This will include spaza shops and general dealers.
“Non-compliant businesses and shops linked to any poisoning incidents or found to unlawfully stock hazardous chemicals will be shut down. A massive campaign of door-to- door inspection of all spaza shops, tuck shops and other informal traders will be undertaken, starting with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
He added, “This will be undertaken by inter-disciplinary inspections teams consisting of the South African Military Health Services, environmental health practitioners, the South African Police Service, the National Consumer Council, labour inspectors and others”.
South African leader said as the government undertake these interventions and measures, there are lot that the parents need to do to protect their children. “As consumers and parents, if we buy food or send our children to buy food, it must only be from places that are licensed to sell foodstuffs and that observe food safety regulations.
“We must check that food is prepared in a clean and hygienic area. We must make sure foodstuffs being sold have clear branding and labels, and that they are not past their sell-by date. We must educate our children about food safety and teach them to check for this labelling themselves.“Anyone who sees fake foodstuffs and expired foodstuffs being sold in our communities, should report them to the National Consumer Commission. The number for the National Consumer Commission is 012 065 1940.
“We have to take greater care with the storage and use of pesticides and dangerous chemicals. We must only buy pesticides that are in their original containers and clearly labelled for household use. Dangerous chemicals must be kept out of reach of children.
“Spaza shops and street vendors have a special responsibility for the health and safety of their customers. They need to operate responsibly and in terms of the law. Observe certain basic practices. For example, they must not use the same containers or implements for chemical substances and food.
“Only pesticides and chemicals registered for household use may be sold and clearly labelled and in their original packaging. Establishments found to be in possession of pesticides that are restricted or banned will face legal consequences”, he said.
While called upon South Africans to work together to overcome this great difficulty, saying the people are far from helpless. “There is much we can do. Each of us needs to be better informed about the risks of pesticides and other dangerous products.
“Each of us needs to take responsibility for the safety and well-being of those around us, particularly the children of our nation. By working together, by enforcing the law, by being alert and responsible, we will be able to bring an end to these tragedies”, the President said.
