Food ban at Gauteng schools angers vendors

The Gauteng education department’s suspension of food sales in and near schools in response to cases of food contamination, particularly in Soweto, has met with strong resistance from traders and their organisations, who are calling it unlawful and unfair. 

The department announced the immediate suspension at schools across the province on 8 November and said the decision was informed “by the recent and alarming increase in incidents of food-borne illnesses affecting learners across various schools in the province”.

Social justice lawyer Kelly Kropman said the department appeared to be acting out of concern for the health and safety of children, as required by law.

But the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas), hit out at the ban, saying the education department has no authority to instruct schools to suspend food sales and that the circular sent out by the department has “no legal power”.

The “decision is not within the legal purview of provincial education departments”, Fedsas said.

It added that the ban failed to address the root problem, which stemmed from incidents outside school premises which required “urgent attention from the department of health and local authorities”.

Fedsas said that although food contamination was an urgent issue, this could not “bypass the constitutional order … The existing legal framework allows for prompt action if the proper procedures are followed.”

Fedsas is not planning legal action but will work with schools to ensure that they remain within food safety and legal guidelines. 

The South African Informal Traders Alliance (Saita), an organisation representing informal traders, hawkers, spaza shop owners and home-based operators countrywide,also hit out at the ban, saying it was  “unfair” and “unacceptable”.

“We all know that South Africa has high unemployment [32.1%] and anyway, the ban won’t stop kids from buying chips from the spaza shops,” said Saita secretary, Thozama Gwente.

Gwente said traders are still waiting for the health department  to provide answers following its investigations of food contamination, which has also been reported from townships in the Free State, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo in recent weeks. 

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi told a media briefing last weekend that since January, there had been 441 food contamination cases in the province, which resulted in 23 deaths.

He said seven postmortem results were positive for organophosphate — the same chemical that was responsible for the deaths of six children from Naledi in Soweto. The forensic investigation did not show any direct link to spaza shops. 

Earlier this month, another child died in Alexandra. 

The health department has yet  to release the results of  inspections carried out at spaza shops in October. Its spokesperson, Foster Mohale, said the results would be out “by the end of the week”.

The department of education said it was implementing “immediate measures to safeguard the health and well-being of our learners. Schools and school governing bodies are instructed to closely monitor and regulate vendors, tuckshops, and other outlets that sell food to learners”.

Vendors interviewed in Katlehong bemoaned the suspension. A street trader who has been selling snacks, including pre-packaged crisps, sweets and cold drinks, outside a school in the township for more than 20 years, said she had been forced to pack away her goods and did not know where her income would come from.

“The vendors were the first to be told to go, but we live by this; I raised my children by doing this. What am I going to do, especially at my age?” said the woman, who did not want to be identified.

In Katlehong 32 learners were admitted to hospital and three children died because of suspected food poisoning, the Gauteng government said in a 5 November statement. 

Development economist Eddie Rakebe said the education department should have been more selective in its response, rather than taking a “blanket approach”.

“It’s a knee-jerk reaction,which will cause severe social, economic problems” for the informal sector,” Rakebe said.

He said the government should draw lessons from the listeriosis outbreak in 2017 and 2018 — which was caused by contaminated processed meat that was produced at a single facility owned by Enterprise Foods and resulted in 216 deaths — and go directly to the manufacturers instead of isolating traders and sellers.

The Gauteng education department said only food of nutritional value should be sold within or near schools. No expired or repackaged food items should be sold to learners, and vendors would have to comply with food regulations. 

The Gauteng government also announced approaches to implementing the newly published by-law and regulations for spaza shops which would entail “stricter regulations, better enforcement of existing laws, and increased public awareness about the potential dangers associated with purchasing from unregulated spaza shops and informal traders”.

It said it would also start the process of re-registering spaza shops and closing non-compliant shops.

Grace Netshitomboni, who made her living selling pre-packed chips, sweets, home made ice lollies, biscuits and stationery outside a school in Katlehong close to where she lives, said she used to buy about R1 000 of stock from wholesalers every week, and made about R8 000 a month.

Netshitomboni said she might be able to survive by selling stationery — for now — and was registering her business with the department. She said she was budgeting for R230 to collect the papers and was keen to work within the regulations.

Katlehong resident Refiloe Masilo who has been supporting Netshitomboni, said he was sympathetic to her plight and that of other vendors and did not believe their food was the root of the poisoning.

“I’m even sad for those people who are selling those sweets, they are making their money, and it’s affecting them. That is what they are living with, and I am supporting them,” Masilo said as he ate a homemade ice lolly from Netshitomboni’s freezer.

“I am eating [the vendors’ snacks] even now and they are not affecting me,” he said.

The Gauteng department of education had not responded to questions from the M&G about the basis of its ban on street vendors near schools, by the time of publication.

Kropman said the department was taking steps “to enforce existing regulations which should be administered by local food inspectors”.

“The regulations govern all people who prepare food for the purpose of commerce,” she said. 

“The school is ultimately liable for the health of children in their care, so the department has an interest in ensuring they are not exposed to hazards. Schools have a common law and constitutional duty to protect children.”

She said the department’s decision appeared to be based on the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, “which requires people handling, preparing or transporting food, specifically for quick consumption, to have a certificate ensuring basic standards of food safety”.

Although the decision had had an adverse effect on small vendors, “there is a serious issue with regard to food contamination which has disproportionately affected children of late,” Kropman added.