South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a raft of measures to combat the deadly food poisoning that has killed 22 schoolchildren and left scores of others hospitalised nationwide. 

He ordered the closure of all implicated spaza shops and gave shop owners 21 days to register their businesses with local municipalities or face shutdown.

Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Friday following the food poisoning crisis. He said this was to curb the increase in food-borne illnesses and deaths. He confirmed that since the beginning of September 2024, there have been 890 reported incidents of food-borne illnesses across all provinces.

The president said law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies would raid spaza shops nationwide, arrest and prosecute illegal and non-compliant owners. 

“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,” Ramaphosa said. 

“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 will undertake compliance inspections of food handling facilities, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers 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,” he added. 

Ramaphosa said the measures were meant to get hazardous pesticides off the street, protect children from exposure to these substances, and prevent future outbreaks.

Sending condolences to the Naledi families in Soweto who have lost six children due to food poisoning, the president said that the National Institute for Communicable Diseases has since established that the deaths were attributed to a highly hazardous chemical known as Terbufos, meant for agricultural 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 the likelihood of food contamination,” Ramaphosa said. 

Other measures include the following: 

• 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 will undertake compliance inspections of food handling facilities, manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers 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.
• 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.

Ramaphosa said the initial phase of inspections must be completed within a month. He said all registered manufacturers of Terbufos will be inspected to ensure that no products are diverted into the non-agricultural market.

The supply chain process for the distribution and sale of Terbufos will be investigated to ensure that controls are being adhered to and that there is accountability for who they sell to.

Ramaphosa added that regulations and protocols on the traceability, repackaging, destruction, and sale of pesticides, insecticides, and foodstuffs will be strengthened.

He said the Department of Basic Education will immediately issue a circular to Provincial Education Departments and all schools “on best practice protocols for preventing and managing foodborne illnesses within schools.

Municipalities, said Ramaphosa, would be reigned in for environmental management failures contributing to the rat infestations. 

“All municipal landfill sites will be required to comply with the National Environmental Management Waste Act. Failure to comply will result in strict sanctions that include directives, compliance notices and criminal enforcement,” he said. 

Moreover, Ramaphosa added that more than R500 million would be spent to support rural and township businesses as part of a three-step intervention. 

Ramaphosa urged parents to be vigilant and play their part in protecting their children from food poisoning. 

“As we undertake these interventions and measures, there is a lot that we can do as parents to protect our 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 that foodstuffs being sold have clear branding and labels, and that they are not past their sell-by date,” Ramaphosa said. 

The president indicated that a Ministerial Health Advisory Committee is being established to develop medium- and long-term prevention measures.

This Committee will consist of experts such as toxicologists, paediatricians, chemical pathologists, epidemiologists, and forensic pathologists.

Ramaphosa added that anyone who sees fake or expired foodstuffs sold in our communities should report them to the National Consumer Commission (012 065 1940).