Soweto community activist Anna Mokoena says she lives in fear after she was allegedly threatened by a group of foreign nationals following her stance against the continued operation of spaza shops in Diepkloof, where a five-year-old child died this week.
“What happened in our area is unfortunate because we foresaw it and called on the community to walk away from these shops. When this thing started in Naledi, we spoke up about it and we forced the shop owners to close but some community members labelled us crazy. They went to them and said they must open because they need their services.”
She said she now lives in fear because she was threatened by these shop owners after they forced them to close.
“Last week, they came to my home and told me to stop what I am doing because this is how they make money. These threats came as I decided to stand up and fight for the safety and health of our children.
“They know that our youth is busy with drugs, and if we keep quiet this will continue. Now I am mindful of what I comment on because I do not know what they are planning.”
She said the owner of the spaza shop that allegedly sold the snacks to the boy had been sent packing.
“It took this community a child’s life for them to realise that this is a national disaster. I do not see how registering these shops is going to help due to the corruption that has infiltrated this country,” she said.
Mokoena said foreign-owned spaza shops “are tearing the community apart into camps”.
The National Disaster Management Centre has classified the food-borne illnesses as a national disaster.
In Soweto, Siyabonga Mnisi’s grieving grandmother Sekai Ndalimane battled to hold back tears. She said the Dumezweni Primary School pupil approached her on Wednesday afternoon and asked for R2 so he could go buy snacks from the spaza shop but she refused.
However, along with his friends, they went to another friend’s home where they were given the money to buy snacks.
She said she received a call shortly afterwards informing her that Siyabonga had diarrhoea and was vomiting.
“Things were horrible when I got to his mother’s house and because the ambulance was going to take a while, we requested an e-hailing car to the hospital. We were given priority when we got to the hospital but a little while after the health practitioners examined him, they informed us that he was gone,” said Ndalimane.
“We are defeated. This is our reality, but it has not registered that he is gone. This child was supposed to be graduating, and he was excited. The clothes he was supposed to wear at his graduation are in the wardrobe. His passing was not something we expected.
“If it were up to us, we would want these foreign nationals who own spaza shops to leave but we heard that they will be registered now. We are at the mercy of the government’s decisions,” said Ndalimane.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said spaza shops implicated in the deaths of children will be closed with immediate effect.
He said all spaza shops and other food handling facilities must be registered within the municipalities in which they operate within 21 days from November 15. Any shop that is not registered within 21 days and does not meet all health standards will be closed.
