By Simon Nare
Minister in The Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has revealed that the crackdown on spaza shops to deal with foodborne illnesses has led to the shutdown of 1000 shops, including supermarkets and warehouses.
Ntshavheni told a post-Cabinet briefing in Cape Town on Thursday that since the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on measures to deal with foodborne illnesses, 200,000 spaza shops have been inspected by law enforcement officers.
“Large quantities of goods have been confiscated and numerous fines have been issued for violations of by-laws. There will be added scrutiny of manufacturers of foodstuffs and pesticide Terbufos to ensure that proper controls are adhered to,” announced Ntshavheni.
She added that the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structures (NATJOINTS) would continue to coordinate the government’s response.
Ntshavheni said the departments of Small Business Development and Trade, Industry and Competition were finalising the setting up of the SME fund to the tune of R500 million to support South Africans who owned township and rural businesses as soon as they met the compliance requirements.
She reminded all spaza shops and food handling facilities that they were required to register with their municipality within 21 days from 15 November 2024 and to meet required health standards or face closure.
“Cabinet calls on all South Africans to remain vigilant when purchasing food items, especially not to purchase items that have passed their expiry date.
“Let us make it our responsibility to educate our children about food safety, including teaching them to check the labelling themselves. Vendors and food producers are also urged to adhere to strict hygiene practices, including proper food storage, thorough cooking and maintaining clean preparation areas,” she said.
Ntshavheni warned any local people against fronting for illegal foreigners and registering shops on their behalf, saying law enforcement authorities would come knocking on their doors.
She added that even SARS would collect tax from those people who registered businesses for illegal foreigners.
She added that according to the Immigration Act, foreign nationals were allowed to operate a business, but would need to inject R5 million into that business.
The minister said that hopefully when it was the turn of foreign national to register the enterprises, they would be able to demonstrate that they could invest that much in the businesses they intended to run.
“Let me reiterate this point, the people that are registering spaza shops are not only foreign nationals. Everyone who owns a spaza shop, food handling facility must register with their municipality,” she said.
Ntshavheni urged anyone who witnessed counterfeit foodstuffs and expired items being sold in communities, to report this to the National Consumer Commission on 012-065-1940.
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