The South African government has classified food-borne illnesses as a National Disaster following deaths of children across the country, ministers said at a briefing in Pretoria on Thursday.
Justice Minister Thembi Simelane said the disaster management centre had classified food-borne illnesses as a National Disaster under the National Disaster Act.
In recent months, the country has experienced about 22 children dying after eating contaminated food bought from their local spaza shops.
A pesticide called Terbufos is the cause of death of children. Health reports indicated that the substance was being used in local spaza shops and households for rat control.
The classification, as stated by Simelane in the media briefing, encouraged organs of state, the private sector, and communities to improve their practices of risk avoidance through their adherence to food safety legislation, standards, and procedures.
According to Simelane, the government is extremely alarmed by claims that certain South Africans are helping illegal foreigners register spaza shops.
President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a directive last Friday mandating that all spaza outlets register within 21 days in response to a nationwide food safety crisis.
Some South Africans are reportedly trying to register spaza stores on behalf of foreign people who do not have the required paperwork to stay in the country, according to reports, especially from Soweto.
Simelane called on citizens to abstain from such acts and underlined that this conduct is illegal.
“This is clear fronting, and we would like to warn everyone who is involved in this illegal activity to stop.
“The Immigration Act prohibits any person from aiding, abetting, assisting or enabling an illegal foreigner to obtain a licence on his or her behalf, to conduct any business or carry on any profession or occupation,” she said.
Simelane urged landlords to ensure that those who rent their premises to conduct businesses, comply with the provisions of the Immigration Act and the standard by-laws regulating local business in the municipalities in which they operate.
She vowed to crack the whip on citizens who were already planning to help foreigners to register their businesses.
“The law enforcement agencies will clamp down heavily on extortionists who want to use this process to enrich themselves,” she said.
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