As spaza shops become ground zero for a rising wave of food poisoning cases across SA — some fatal — scores of Nelson Mandela Bay residents say they simply have no choice but to continue buying groceries from these outlets.
With limited access to supermarkets, the poor are trapped in a dangerous cycle, where the food they depend on could potentially kill them.
The crisis has grown so dire that President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation this week, amid growing outrage over the sale of expired and contaminated food in spaza shops.
National health bosses have also activated the National Institute of Communicable Diseases to trace and examine the source of the poisoning of foodstuffs and make recommendations.
The problem is widespread, with Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape regarded as hotspots.
In one of the latest incidents in the Eastern Cape, 29 primary school children from Kariega were rushed to a clinic on Tuesday after falling ill from eating chips allegedly sold by a street vendor.
The pupils, from Nokwezi Primary School in KwaNobuhle, experienced itchy skin and stomach cramps shortly after consuming the snack.
Provincial education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima confirmed the incident and said the children were stabilised at the clinic.
Since Monday, the Bay municipality has led operations across the city in which several shops were shut down for failing to comply with municipal bylaws, operating with illegal electricity connections and lacking certificates of acceptability.
The operation involved the police, metro police, as well as officials from the public health, electricity and energy, human settlements and budget and treasury directorates.
On Wednesday, Bay mayor Babalwa Lobishe led an operation in Kwazakhele which resulted in four undocumented foreign nationals being detained by metro police. One of them was later arrested.
Large amounts of expired food, illegally sold medication, cosmetics and fireworks were confiscated and fines issued to the transgressors.
“We are determined to ensure food for human consumption is safe, meets acceptable, optimal hygiene control, acceptable microbiological and chemical standards,” Lobishe said.
“We are working to ensure we continue to conduct daily inspections and intensify oversight over spaza shops that do not meet the regulatory requirements of our country.”
In Qonce, six pupils fell ill, and in a separate incident, a child from Tshatshu village died, after they consumed snacks allegedly bought from local spaza shops on October 31.
The child who died has been identified as Anothando Kwindla, nine, a grade 4 pupil at Ngqika Primary School in Zwelitsha.
In all the food poisoning cases, it is suspected the youngsters fell ill after consuming food items or snacks bought from spaza shops in their respective areas.
In Greenbushes, an area in the Bay where people have little access to basic services, Rocher Bothma said he had no choice but to buy what he could from four local spaza shops and a fuel station.
“I don’t have transport, so we’re stuck with these shops,” the 28-year-old said.
But what he found inside one of the spaza shops recently shocked him.
After buying several packs of meat, he opened one and found the meat was blue.
“It’s not safe for our health,” he said.
“We’re used to it. But when things go wrong, it’s a fight just to get our money back.”
Rivaldo van Rooney of Arcadia in the Bay’s northern areas, said he recently bought five packs of chicken that turned out to be rotten.
“It was chicken thighs and chicken breast,” Van Rooney said, recalling how he opened the packs to cook on Sunday, only to be struck by a foul smell.
Upon checking the expiry date, he was shocked to find it was set for September 25 — nearly a month past.
“I had to throw it out and give it to my dogs,” Van Rooney said.
In March, The Herald published a story about expired and spoilt food lining the shelves of many spaza shops across the Bay.
At the time, a team from the newspaper visited up to 10 spaza shops across the city.
In some, meat that had not yet reached its expiry date was being stored in fridges that were not working properly.
During a post-cabinet media briefing on Wednesday, presidency minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said Ramaphosa would address the nation by the end of the week.
“There is no discussion in terms of deploying the military in terms of spaza shops,” she said.
“Cabinet was briefed on the food-borne illnesses and fatalities recorded in various parts of the country, which have led to the tragic deaths of children and resulted in several hospitalisations in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State.
“The president will address the nation on the interventions the government is undertaking to deal with this situation.
“I do not want to pre-empt when, given the work that is still being done by the committees.
“I’m aware that there’s work still being done by the justice, crime prevention and security cluster.
“The committee is meeting again this afternoon to finalise the issues in preparation.
“Depending on the various aspects, when all work is integrated back into the joint efforts, the president will be able to address them.
“If we complete that work with sufficient time for the president to address [the nation] today or tomorrow, he will.
“But he will address this week,” Ntshavheni said.
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