Central SA
Over 20,000 spaza shops inspected in Free State─── KEKELETSO MOSEBETSI 08:25 Tue, 19 Nov 2024
Over 20,000 spaza shops have been inspected across the province in efforts to tackle issues related to undocumented foreign nationals and expired goods.
The Free State provincial police commissioner, Lt Gen. Baile Motswenyane, made this revelation during the Consideration of the Annual Report 2023/24 of Departments and the Second Quarterly Report 2024/25 Financial Years. The inspections come in the wake of alarming food safety incidents involving foreign-owned spaza shops, which resulted in several children falling ill and, in some cases, losing their lives after consuming unsafe products.
The food poisoning incidents, including one at Ihobe Primary School on Friday (7/11), where nearly 50 learners were hospitalised after consuming a contaminated snack, caused outrage. This incident led President Cyril Ramaphosa to instruct the closure of foreign-owned spaza shops implicated in the health crisis.
“As we know, by-laws come from municipalities. Despite urging role players to address these issues, nothing materialised. I instructed my team to begin inspecting tuck shops because if these issues are not addressed, tragedies like these will continue. When looting occurs, xenophobic attacks follow, and we don’t have enough police to handle such crises. Proactive action is critical,” she said.
Between February 2024 and early November, Free State police inspected 20,985 local spaza shops, leading to 95 arrests of undocumented foreign nationals, 35 fines for counterfeit goods and 295 fines for expired goods.
The food poisoning crisis, which spurred a wave of community outrage, resulted in the looting of at least 97 foreign-owned stores two weeks ago. Police arrested 39 individuals involved in these incidents. Commissioner Motswenyane called on residents to cooperate with police to curb such incidents, warning that unchecked tensions could escalate into violence.
‘Free State continues to grapple with high rates of violent crimes’
Meanwhile, despite a reported decline in residential and business burglaries, the Free State continues to grapple with high rates of violent crimes, including murder, rape, common assault, and assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Motswenyane urged community members to assist the police in curbing these crimes and ensuring the province remains safe.
