‘We have been calling for partnerships for so long’: SAITA amps up call for spaza shop intervention
The South African Informal Traders Alliance not only called for tighter regulations, but also educating vendors selling snacks to schoolchildren.
FILE: Authorities conduct spaza shop inspections in Naledi, Soweto, following the death of six children from suspected food poisoning. Picture: EWN/ Jacques Nelles
CAPE TOWN - The South African Informal Traders Alliance (SAITA) is calling for better regulation of spaza shops by government after the most recent in a series of suspected poisonings.
In one of two recent incidents in the Western Cape, learners from the Mzamomtsha Primary School at Driftsands were admitted to Khayelitsha Hospital last week.
The Western Cape Education Department confirmed 20 learners were admitted after complaining of stomach cramps. They were later discharged, and the incident remains under investigation.
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SAITA said the suspected food poisoning incidents involving learners should serve as a wake-up call for government to tighten regulations.
SAITA president Rosheda Muller said government also had a role to play in educating vendors selling food or snacks to schoolchildren.
"The must be more partnerships between school governing bodies, government, and the informal sector themselves. We have been calling for partnerships for so long."