Members of the National Assembly participated in the debate during a mini plenary following a motion tabled by the Inkatha Freedom Party .
“Our focus remains on collaborating with all levels of government in a coordinated manner, particularly, COGTA, Home Affairs, Employment and Labour, Police and the Department of Health. To this end, we have engaged in all relevant departments entrusted with ensuring law enforcement, adherence to regulations and product and food safety and ensuring that products available in small businesses are properly vetted and quality assured for consumption.
“As we all know that many of these shops are operated by individuals who enter this country illegally or have posed as asylum seekers which quietly run businesses and defy all our laws in the country. They exploit local born South African workers, pass customers, bringing in counterfeit goods, expired goods, products that are dangerous for consumption. They care little for hygienic and health regulations, selling items unfit for human consumption and the result is the poisoning of our children.
“The problem of poor and non-existent regulation of the spaza shop sector must be seen from this perspective. Chairperson, recent research indicates, there are more than 150 000 spaza shops in the country, making an annual income of about R178 billion per annum. The great majority of our people in villages and townships depend on these spaza shops for their daily needs. But research shows that more than 11 million people visit these shops daily.