A general view of a spaza shop. Picture for illustration purposes. Picture: Gallo Images/Ziyaad Douglas
The allegations that two Tshwane children passed away after consuming snacks from a local spaza shop remain unconfirmed.
On Wednesday, reports that a seven-year-old and 10-year-old child from Mamelodi East died after consuming snacks from a local spaza shop were spread on social media.
City of Tshwane’s MMC of Health Cllr Tshegofatso Mashabela said the cases in Tshwane have not been confirmed yet.
Mashabela urged residents to check products for proper labelling and expiration dates, buy food from licenced and regulated shops and report any suspicious activity to the authorities immediately.
The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) spokesperson Steve Mabona also confirmed the department did not have the incident on their records.
Mabona said the department will keep the public updated if they find the report.
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National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said there was no record of an incident reported in Mamelodi.
This follows after multiple cases of school children being treated for food poisoning around Gauteng have been recorded in the past month and accounted for 23 deaths in total.
Meanwhile, around Tshwane, it seemed like business as usual with the daily street vendors out in their usual spots selling cigarettes and snacks.
Many of the vendors did not want to speak about how business was going currently with spaza shops, snacks and counterfeit products in the spotlight or because they were foreigners themselves.
Lucky Mogale said he heard about the children’s deaths but it didn’t affect his business.
“They are still buying my stuff, no problem,” he said.
Mogale said he hasn’t received any complaints about his products in the past and believed that he had no reason to be concerned.
Earlier this week, AfriForum’s Head of Cultural Affairs Alana Bailey called on the GDE to allow authorised sellers who can prove that they meet all requirements and comply with health regulations to resume the sale of food at schools.
It follows a suspension of the sale of food within and around school premises until further notice following the recent and alarming increase in incidents of food-borne illnesses affecting pupils across various schools in the province.
ALSO READ: Allow authorised sellers to do business at schools – AfriForum
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