South Africa reports 23 deaths from food poisoning, adopts mechanism of reporting and tracking

SOUTH AFRICA – Food borne-related poisoning in South Africa has claimed at least Twenty-three lives, majority being children between the ages of six and nine.

A large number of the incidents occurred within schools with the rest being within the community. Furthermore, at least 441 cases of food poisoning have been reported throughout the Guateng province, only.

Premier of Gauteng Province, Panyaza Lesufi gave the update and said there are plans to implement by-laws to govern spaza shops.

“The first uniform approach across the province was to adopt a mechanism of reporting because we have so many deaths that are taking place that we want to isolate those that are food borne and those that need our immediate attention,” he said.

“The Department of Health has been given that task. They’ve given us their preliminary report, and in that report, they’ve indicated that the deaths that have been registered thus far. Today, we can confirm that we are at 23 [deaths] which is a sad thing.”

 Going forward, Lesufi said the provincial government will “develop a template” that will be used by medical facilities, schools and community centres so that the province “can be in a position to track the areas that need immediate attention”.

The Premier explained that it is important because it becomes the base level of understanding the problem and it becomes the area in which investigators can record, trace and where intervention is needed, the government can be in a position to make that intervention.

The provincial government has taken the decision to ban an agricultural pesticide that has been found to be at the root of some of the deaths.

Lesufi added that the MEC for Agriculture will formulate the approach on how to deal with that substance and it must not be found in any informal trader. The law enforcement agencies will assist in the elimination of the substances where possible.

The new by-laws that have been developed nationally explain how to register a business, how business should conduct themselves and all those related matters, making it easier for law enforcement agencies to monitor.

“The next resolution we have taken is the registration of businesses. All businesses – especially that are affecting the issue of our children – have to re-register. That’s the process that will also empower those that want to open or operate businesses, but they don’t have the financial muscle or the facilities,” Lesufi noted.

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) said it is also working with the Department of Health to develop safety guidelines for schools to effectively mitigate the risks of organophosphate pesticide exposure in school environments.

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