Non-compliant spaza shops should remain closed, says COGTA minister

JOHANNESBURG - Cooperative Governance Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa said that non-compliant spaza shops should remain closed.

Hlabisa was speaking at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on Friday morning, where a child was hospitalised after eating snacks bought from a Soweto shop.

The eight-year-old boy has been in the ICU for almost a week.

Hlabisa urged communities to report unregistered tuck shops.

"I'm happy that the spaza shop in which the child is reported to have bought the snacks which affected him is shut down. We will go there with the whole team and also to speak to the community because it should be a collective responsibility."

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SOWETO BOY STILL IN A CRITICAL CONDITION – FAMILY

The family of the boy, who is in ICU after consuming snacks from a tuck shop in Soweto, says he is still in critical condition. 

Tensions were high in Soweto as government officials inspected the tuck shop where the eight-year-old boy had bought snacks.

Outside the store, residents put up posters with messages demanding that the foreign shop owner leave the country.

It is understood that the shop is not registered.

“We are not happy with what happened. This happened in Naledi. And after Naledi, [President Cyril] Ramaphosa said spazas must be registered. This spaza is not registered at all. It doesn't have papers. But he's been allowed to operate.”

The family wants their child to recover and return home.