Poverty, food-borne illnesses and xenophobia: A perfect storm
21 November 2024
Ten million tons of good food goes to waste in South Africa each year, a third of the country’s total food production.
Yet millions of South Africans, who can’t afford to pay commercial prices, subsist on poor quality food from small suppliers, who stock the cheapest available products, sometimes past their expiry date, and lack the resources to manage the cold chain requirements of perishable goods.
Most of these small suppliers are based in townships and informal settlements, and many of them are immigrants who have been coming under regular attack from xenophobes in these communities for the past decade or so.
Adding to the problem is that due to poverty at home, many South African children rely on the nutrition they receive at school. The quality of some of this food, though made with love, is unregulated and can be dire.
Over the past few weeks, at least 22 children have died of food-borne illnesses, and scores more have been hospitalised.
These circumstances, taken together, demand a thoughtful and sustainable response from government, not reactionary knee-jerking such as the patently ridiculous order to regulate the hitherto totally unregulated spaza shop industry within 21 days.
While the government’s intentions may be good, it has opened up a Pandora’s Box of chaos.
The order to formalise the industry within 21-days was never going to work. Instead, in its rush to be seen to be doing something, government has opened the door for fraud and corruption to flourish (as noted in today’s NATJOINT briefing declaring foodborne illnesses a national disaster).
There are reports of fronting, South Africans accused of assisting illegal foreign nationals to fraudulently comply with the requirements for registration, and of corrupt government officials willing to “assist” with the registration process for a fee.
In Johannesburg, members of Operation Dudula, blocked foreign nationals from participating in the process.
Fears of raids and inspections have sparked large-scale dumping of potentially contaminated foodstuffs, the lack of proper disposal opened vulnerable communities up to potential further harm.
And, by Governments own admission, it does not have the number of environmental health inspectors needed for the project.
No one can deny that the informal retailing of food bears health risks. But Spaza shops and informal food retailers play an important role in papering over the country’s food security crisis.
Our food security crisis, or hunger, is not because we don’t produce enough food but because food is inaccessible and unaffordable.
Government has to ensure that township economies function given their significant contribution to the national economy and role in ensuring the basic survival of millions of people without a job in the formal economy.
Taking a sledgehammer to this sector, while xenophobes hang in the shadows, is a recipe for further disaster.
The new township economies legislation gazetted by the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs – that seeks to balance the rights of citizens to conduct business with the rights of consumers to safety and security – is a step in the right direction – but it needs more than 21 days to work.
Making it work needs sustained commitment from municipalities.
Rushing through new rules in order to be seen to be doing something is doomed to failure.
Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD SG, 21 November 2024
