DA urges government to bolster food safety standards and EHP deployment

10 November 2024

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned by the recent cases of food poisoning that have claimed the lives of innocent children in South Africa. This tragic situation highlights a critical and preventable issue: the severe shortage of Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs) to inspect food sold by vendors and Spaza shop owners, coupled with the Department of Health’s inadequate oversight of food safety standards.

The lack of sufficient EHPs—responsible for enforcing health standards, educating businesses, and conducting inspections—poses a serious risk to public safety. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and South Africa’s own National Environmental Health Policy, there should be one EHP for every 10,000 people. However, we are failing to meet this benchmark, leaving many communities, especially those densely populated and at high risk, without the necessary protections to ensure safe food handling and sales.

The latest figures show that South Africa has only 1 712 EHPs, a fraction of the 6 203 required for adequate coverage.

This crisis is a damning indictment of governance that has allowed health and safety inspections to collapse over the years, failing our children and the public at large. Unless we address these underlying issues, food poisoning incidents will almost certainly become more frequent, posing a constant threat to vulnerable populations, particularly young children.

The DA urgently calls on the Department of Health to:

Implement rigorous, unannounced inspections of vendors and Spaza shop owners.

Set enforceable standards for food operators that prioritise consumer safety.

Establish training programs for informal food handlers to minimise the risk of contamination and foodborne illnesses.

It is imperative that the government prioritises the recruitment and deployment of EHPs across all provinces, especially in high-density areas, to safeguard public health. If we fail to act now, more lives may be lost, and our communities will continue to face unnecessary risks to their health and safety.

We owe it to our children and future generations to create a safer environment where they are not threatened by the very food they consume.

Statement issued by Dr Karl le Roux MP, DA Deputy Spokesperson on Health, 10 November 2024