Apartheid economics continue to haunt South Africa | Health

On November 3, Lesedi Mulaudzi, a 10-year-old girl from Alexandra, a sprawling township in Johannesburg, South Africa, died of what was likely food poisoning after eating snacks bought from a “spaza shop,” a type of informal store that sprung up in black communities in the era of apartheid.

According to the Gauteng Provincial Health Department, Lesedi died at the Alexandra Community Health Center where she was admitted to the emergency department in critical condition. Her mother and four-year-old brother, who also ate the same snacks, were hospitalized but later recovered.

After Lesedi’s death, her father recalled the day’s traumatic events, saying the victims began to experience severe pain and discomfort about an hour after eating the snacks.

“My daughter came from the toilet complaining of chest pain, we took her to the Masahane clinic and on the way she could not breathe. When we arrived at the clinic, I rushed her to the emergency room. A few minutes later we received a call to inform us of her death.”

Lesedi’s tragic death comes amid a spate of similar incidents involving spa shops across the province and the country as a whole, sparking widespread outrage.

Speaking at a press conference on November 10, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced that 441 cases of food poisoning had been reported in the province, resulting in 23 deaths, with a significant number occurring in schools and local communities, mostly among children aged six and over. to nine South African President Cyril Ramaphosa made an official announcement on November 15, stating that all spa shops and food processing businesses must register with the municipalities where they are located within 21 days.

In mid-October, six children died after eating snacks at a Spaza shop in Naleda, Soweto. A special task force tasked with investigating the causes of their deaths, led by Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, found on October 28 that all six children died from the use of a banned pesticide, an organophosphate called Terbufos.

Classified as a very hazardous chemical, Terbufos is primarily used in agricultural settings. However, it is also sold illegally in South African townships as a “street pesticide” and is commonly used to control rat infestations.

Terbufos and other banned pesticides like it contain restricted agricultural chemicals that pose a serious health risk when used in homes and other public areas.

Notably, while the Special Task Force identified Terbufos as the agent responsible for the deaths of six children in Naleda, it failed to trace the main source of the contamination.

In July 2001, the Gauteng government, led by the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s largest party, acknowledged the existence of a rat infestation in the province, but said the onus was on its own ANC to deal with the rodent problem. – manage municipalities. It’s clear that after 23 years, not enough progress has been made to address the province’s rat problem, a deficit that goes hand-in-hand with a host of spa-related problems.

On November 7, Fikile Mbalula, the ANC secretary-general, called on the government to implement a nationwide closure of spas, followed by a re-registration process that includes a rigorous assessment of eligibility and immigration clearances. Migrants – mainly from Somalia, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Bangladesh – run about 90 percent of the country’s spa shops, and some have been found to be undocumented.

There are currently over 150,000 spas in South Africa. They are a significant part of the South African economy, with approximately 80 percent of the population visiting these stores every day. Almost 40 percent of total food spending in South Africa goes to these stores, giving them a combined estimated value of R178 billion ($9.8 billion), an amount that exceeds the market capitalization of Shoprite, the country’s leading retailer. Despite their widespread popularity, they pose a number of critical problems.

A significant part of these small businesses are not registered with local municipalities and tax authorities. Many sell expired food that has been stored in unsanitary conditions, while others show a tendency to buy fake or substandard products from unregistered producers – underground “factories” that do not follow production rules.

Of concern is the fact that many Spaza stores are known to sell several controlled drugs that must only be sold by authorized pharmacies under South African law. There have even been reports that some of these illegally sold drugs are expired or otherwise contaminated.

Without proper regulation, spa shops do whatever they can to maximize their profits and, as a result, pose a serious threat to the well-being of the marginalized communities they are supposed to serve.

Unfortunately, this is not an anomaly, but just one of many deficiencies in the delivery of basic services to South Africa’s poorest communities.

Thirty years after the official end of apartheid in 1994, South African township dwellers still face a myriad of infrastructural and service deficiencies.

In contrast, suburban areas historically home to the white minority are now witnessing growth Black Middle Class – enjoy enhanced amenities and efficient service delivery, including fairly efficient food service supervision.

Johannesburg has only 221 sanitary inspector – professionals tasked with ensuring compliance with the country’s health and safety laws – creating a ratio of one inspector for every 27,000 people. This is far less than the one health inspector for every 10,000 members of the population recommended by the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, Tshwane, the capital of the Republic of South Africa, is even more under-resourced, with only 77 health inspectors, which equates to one inspector for every 60,000 residents of the city of four million.

In Gauteng, the lack of health inspectors appears to encourage the use of so-called “street pesticides” in townships, particularly by spa owners.

In addition, the failure of the authorities to overcome the invasion of rats in economically disadvantaged areas, which is exacerbated by inefficient waste disposal and uncontrolled discharge of wastewaterhas exacerbated the rise in the use of dangerous and illicit substances in Gauteng.

Dr. Aslam Dasu, the presenting physician Progressive Health Forum – national health network – expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of re-registration of spas as a means of dealing with the food poisoning crisis, saying that the approach does not address the urgent need elimination of rat infestations in the villages.

Last year, a retrospective descriptive study of children admitted to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto found that between January 2016 – December 2021 In this hospital alone, 2,652 children were treated for pesticide poisoning.

So, the crisis we are witnessing now is, in fact, just a continuation of a long-standing problem, created by countless systemic failures of municipalities and state authorities.

For weeks, government agencies have been scrutinizing non-compliant spas, with multidisciplinary teams conducting compliance assessments in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

In addition, on November 7, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Velenkosini Hlabisa, published a new by-law on the economy of the township. Among other things, the bylaw requires that all business activities in the township comply with health and safety regulations.

This is a commendable development.

However, the lack of adequate legislation may be one of the smaller problems facing South Africa, as the widespread failure to consistently enforce established business, health and environmental regulations in townships has greatly worsened the current crisis.

Indeed, Soweto and Alexandra’s children should receive the same level of systemic protection as their peers living in affluent areas of Gauteng, regardless of their socio-economic status.

If the authorities had responded in time to the rat infestation, eradicated the illegal trade in banned pesticides and regulated spaza shops, Lesedi’s life and many others like her could have been saved.

It is time for South Africa to truly leave the apartheid economy behind and start working towards an equal level of welfare for all its citizens.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.